Gen. Petraeus resigns, Pres.Obama responds

buzzz worthy. . .




General David Petreaus has resigned as the Director of the CIA.  Petraeus admitted to having an extramartial affair on his wife Holly  in a letter this on 11/09.  His alleged lover was Paula Broadwell, his biographer, a Harvard grad and 40-year-old mother of two. 

The FBI was alerted that Broadwell had access to Patraeus' e-mail and learned of the affair when they began to monitor his account.

The timing of the resignation raises questions and speculation, namely does his departure relate to security failures around the Benghazi, Libya conflict, but no other reasons other than the personal one he offere were given.  The announcement came days before Petraeus was schduled to testify before Congress in the investigation about the Libyan attack and a few days after the election.

Gen. Petraeus  notified President Obama of his intent to resign a day before going public.
The four star general, an Army veteran who was married for 37 years said his behavior was not befitting of a leader in a memo that was sent to CIA staff:

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as D/CIA. After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours. This afternoon, the President graciously accepted my resignation.

As I depart Langley, I want you to know that it has been the greatest of privileges to have served with you, the officers of our Nation’s Silent Service, a work force that is truly exceptional in every regard. Indeed, you did extraordinary work on a host of critical missions during my time as director, and I am deeply grateful to you for that.

Teddy Roosevelt once observed that life’s greatest gift is the opportunity to work hard at work worth doing. I will always treasure my opportunity to have done that with you and I will always regret the circumstances that brought that work with you to an end.

Thank you for your extraordinary service to our country, and best wishes for continued success in the important endeavors that lie ahead for our country and our Agency.

With admiration and appreciation,

David H. Petraeus

In the following statement, President Obama said Petraeus "made our country safer and stronger."

Statement by President Obama on the Resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus

David Petraeus has provided extraordinary service to the United States for decades. By any measure, he was one of the outstanding General officers of his generation, helping our military adapt to new challenges, and leading our men and women in uniform through a remarkable period of service in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he helped our nation put those wars on a path to a responsible end. As Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, he has continued to serve with characteristic intellectual rigor, dedication, and patriotism. By any measure, through his lifetime of service David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger.

Today, I accepted his resignation as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. I am completely confident that the CIA will continue to thrive and carry out its essential mission, and I have the utmost confidence in Acting Director Michael Morell and the men and women of the CIA who work every day to keep our nation safe. Going forward, my thoughts and prayers are with Dave and Holly Petraeus, who has done so much to help military families through her own work. I wish them the very best at this difficult time.

This story is developing.

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