L'Affaire Petraeus: Pour La Galerie

Published by Eurasia Review 13 November 2012
By Lawrence S. Schneiderman

There is no paucity of reporting in today’s Main Stream Media on l’affaire Petraeus. The Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has admitted to having an extramarital affair with a married woman. And, one should not be surprised to learn of further revelations of transgressions on his part. However, while the avalanche of reporting on General Petraeus’ extramarital affair sells newsprint and fills the airwaves with prurient curiosity, it’s window dressing -- pour la galerie.

As America’s great General, George S. Patton, once said (it would seem appropriate to quote a General here): "If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking." What then is l’affaire Petraeus all about?

The extramarital affair is a red herring. Its purpose is to cover up the Obama Administration’s failures in Benghazi and its cover up of those events. Four Americans under diplomatic protection, including the US Ambassador to Libya, were murdered in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11^th, 2012, by Islamic terrorists. The date was the 11^th Anniversary of the 9/11 Islamic terror attacks upon the United States in New York City and Washington, D.C.

The Obama Administration and its accomplice the Main Stream Media, willing or duped, is using a personal extramarital affair to deflect the public from the real questions of an attack on a US Consulate in North Africa.

• Why did the Obama Administration allow its Ambassador and State Department personnel to be put in jeopardy, knowing in advance that Benghazi was an extremely dangerous environment
• Why did the US State Department, under the direction of Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, leave the consulate without adequate protection against a terrorist attack on the Anniversary of 9/11?
• Why was a US Consulate not provided security by US Marines, as is standard operating procedure”?
• Under what authority is the CIA responsible for the protection of a US Ambassador and Consulate Office?
• Who made the decision to “contract out” security of a US Consulate to private civilian contractors who may be connected or compromised by terrorist groups in a country without a legitimate central government?

Indeed, there are many questions to be answered, but none more important in my view than these:

• Why did the Obama Administration not come to the rescue of its Ambassador and diplomatic personnel when it had real time information on the attack of its Consulate, and military assets capable of neutralizing the attack less than two hours away in Sigonella, Italy?
• Who knew what and when? Mr. Obama, President of the United States; Mrs. Clinton, Secretary of State; Mr. Leon Panetta, Secretary of Defense; Gen. M. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. Petraeus, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency; and Mr. James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence; and yet to be named White House functionaries?
• Who made the decision(s) not to send military support to Benghazi?    

In the last analysis, one would hope that the Congressional Leaders of the United States and the Main Stream Media would see the events of Benghazi as the real story that needs to be investigated, and not Gen. Petraeus’ extramarital affair. Until then, here’s what the officials and pundits wish us to think: no conspiracy; the timing of Gen. Petraeus’ resignation just a coincidence; just a sordid extramarital affair, but we need to be sure no vital intelligence was compromised; nothing to see here folks – just wag the dog! 

Benghazi: Obama’s Watergate

Published by Eurasia Review 11November 2012

If you have not been paying attention for the past two months, or if you get your news from the Main Stream Media (MSM), then you may not understand the significance of the tragedy in Benghazi (Libya) on September 11, 2012.

In my view, Benghazi is the equivalent of Watergate*, yet much worse. In Benghazi, America’s credibility in the world, and in the Middle East in particular, was irretrievably compromised. As a result, America is in far greater peril than it has ever been before.

The Wall Street Journal**, one of the few media outlets willing to report on this story, succinctly summarized the significance of Benghazi: “The episode reflects directly on his (Mr. Obama) competence and honesty as Commander in Chief.”

Why did Mr. Obama and his Administration cover up what happened at Benghazi? The short answer is – we have yet to be told. Which begs the question, why did the CIA Director, David Petraeus, resign?

Here’s the reason why:

1. CIA Director David Petraeus' affair is at least 5 yrs old. Yet, he was appointed head of the CIA last year (September 6, 2011).

   Ergo, this scandal was in the can, waiting to be opened in a crisis.

2. Bill Clinton's 11th hour push to re-elect Mr. Obama was not an altruistic act of party unity. On the contrary, as the campaign flagged, Clinton's assistance was critical. With the Clintons there is always a quid pro quo.  In this case, Petraeus and the CIA are thrown under the bus for Benghazi rather than Mrs. Clinton and the US State Department. 

   Ergo, Mrs. Clinton’s political career (US Presidential Election 2016) is alive and well.

3. Mr. Obama, or probably someone on his behalf, tried to blackmail Petraeus and we can assume instructed him to lie under oath and take responsibility regarding the calamity in Benghazi. In return, the Obama Administration will keep quiet about his extra-marital affair. Petraeus we can again assume refused to play ball and resigned rather than lay the blame and shame on his agency (CIA).

   Ergo, his legacy and the credibility of his Agency are tarnished and compromised, but not irreparably so.

4. The unfortunate upshot for the United States: more Benghazis and more blood on the horizon.

Watergate was a break-in of a political office in a commercial building and a cover up by the Nixon Administration. Benghazi is an act of war against the United States of America, the murder of a US Ambassador on foreign soil, and a cover up by the Obama Administration. Mr. Nixon was forced to resign his Presidency. We should expect nothing less from Mr. Obama.

Author: Lawrence S. Schneiderman is an International Consultant and Dr. of Public Policy, Vanderbilt University. The views expressed are his own.

* The Watergate scandal was a political scandal that occurred in the United States in the 1970s as a result of the June 1972 break-in at in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement. The scandal eventually led to the resignation of Richard Nixon, the President of the United States, on August 9, 1974, the only resignation of a U.S. President. The scandal also resulted in the indictment, trial, conviction and incarceration of 43 people, including dozens of Nixon's top administration officials (Wikipedia)

** “The Fog of Benghazi,” The Wall Street Journal, 3-4 November 2012, sec. A, p.14, cols. 1-2.