Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The Real Victims of the Petraeus Scandal

When the news of General Petraeus's resignation suddenly broke last week, and with the resulting Springerian Nightmare (I just made that up), I think the country is starting to lose sight of something important.

The "real" victims of General Petraeus are 4 Americans killed in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012 and their families.

Because of the scandal, General Petraeus's testimony before Congress has been postponed- possibly indefinitely.  Because of his infidelity, and the fact it was known for months prior, his judgement is in question and he was compromised from a security standpoint.  This means that key questions may never be answered.  It means that blame might be successfully shifted from President Obama (where, as chronicled here, it rightly belongs) to General Petraeus and the CIA (where it does not).

Because of the scandal, we may never know why the CIA operatives in Benghazi were given a stand down order.  Was it because the CIA was operating a secret prison in Benghazi?  I'm sorry, but that simply doesn't make sense.  Was it simply for political cover?  We now may never know.

Another real victim of General Petraeus?  Holly Petraeus, his wife.  I have seen some of the most vile comments about her, both from liberal and conservative sources, and they are undeserved.  There is no reason to speculate on "why" General Petraeus would violate his wedding vows and have an extended extramarital affair.  "Why" does not matter.  To lay any blame at the feet of Holly Petraeus is the worst form of blame-shifting (all the blame lays with Gen. Petraeus and his mistress) and misogyny.

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