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David Petraeus & Barack's Benghazi Bungle
Ricochet.com ^ | November 10, 2012 | Paul A. Rahe

Posted on 11/10/2012 10:24:09 AM PST by billorites

Here is what I wonder. Did David Petraeus allow himself to be blackmailed by the minions of Barack Obama?

The testimony Petraeus gave Congress on Benghazi shortly after the assassination of our ambassador to Libya was a restatement of the patently false narrative foisted on the country by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and their underlings -- to wit, that the assault on the American consulate was a spontaneous demonstration in reaction to the Coptic Christian's Youtube video.

Petraeus had to know better. The Benghazi bungle took place on the anniversary of 9/11. There was plenty of intelligence available to Petraeus prior to the event suggesting that Al Qaeda was becoming a real force in the region, and the e-mails that the CIA sent the White House at the time indicate that the folks in the agency knew within hours that the attack had been carefully planned and knew who in Benghazi was responsible.

So why did a man always known for his honor and integrity go before a Congressional committee and lie through his teeth? If Washington were Chicago, we would know the answer. Blackmail is, in Chicago, standard operating procedure. Is Washington now Chicago? Is Petraeus leaving office a disgraced and broken man because one act of dishonor and betrayal led him to commit another far more shameful?

I hope not. I greatly admire the man. What he achieved in Iraq was little short of miraculous, and it took tremendous courage and moral stamina. It saddens me to think that such a man would wantonly betray his wife of 37 years, but that sort of foolishness I can easily understand. The spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak. What I do not want to think is that David Petraeus betrayed his country as well -- by lying to Congress about a matter as important as this in the middle of a presidential campaign.

But I, nonetheless, have to ask, "Why did Petraeus lie?" And given the fact that the lie was part of a preposterous narrative being peddled by a President who knew that the truth might well be fatal to his reelection -- and who depended on his lies being echoed by a pliable, servile press -- I have to ask, "How did they get an honorable man to disgrace himself so utterly?"

If this line of questioning makes sense, then we have to entertain the possibility that David Petraeus is resigning because doing what he did in his testimony to Congress is distasteful in a fashion that a man of his mettle cannot long bear.

Congress should not let this pass. David Petraeus should be made to testify about Barack's Benghazi Bungle. We have a right to know the truth. We had a right to know it well before the 6th of November. We now have a right to know why we were denied the truth.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: benghazi; benghazicoverup; davidpetraeus; idiotsdidntvote4mitt; kenyanbornmuzzie; libya; navyseals; petraeusaffair; thirdworldwar; threatmatrix; threatmatrixbenghazi; waronterror
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1 posted on 11/10/2012 10:24:15 AM PST by billorites
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To: billorites

Assuming he’s now free of the blackmail scenario, don’t be surprised if he attempts to salvage his soiled honor by going before Congress and spilling his guts. That is, if he lives long enough.


2 posted on 11/10/2012 10:30:23 AM PST by Mr Ramsbotham (Laws against sodomy are honored in the breech.)
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To: billorites
I think he will be compelled to testify.

I also think he will lawyer up, and take the 5th.

If they ask him one question and he answers it, he will be compelled to answer all the questions put before him.

3 posted on 11/10/2012 10:34:27 AM PST by mware (By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West)
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To: billorites
Please remember that he was under the command of the President aka the CIC. There was no choice unless you want to see him in a prison for the rest of his life.

I do indeed think he got set up in the long run....but I do believe he will be truthful in the end.

I believe the statement that no one in the CIA gave the "Stand Down" command came directly from him, was the truth and it also infers that there WAS a Stand Down command.

Obama is nothing more than a Chicago thug.

4 posted on 11/10/2012 10:36:56 AM PST by Sacajaweau (r)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham

>>>>That is, if he lives long enough.

Bingo. I was thinking the same thing.


5 posted on 11/10/2012 10:42:22 AM PST by GoodDay
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To: billorites

Obama’s Benghazi Bungle smells big time to many dirty dealing going on in D.C. and the MSM is in black out mode.
Going to be more people than Petraeus going down.
Wonder what deals go on in D.C. when Obama is out of the country?


6 posted on 11/10/2012 10:43:13 AM PST by Vaduz
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To: billorites

There was more than one thing going on in Benghazi. You had the CIA trying to recapture weapons from terrorists who hate America. And then you had the deal made by some unk own entity to allow the ambassador to be kidnapped in order to exchange him with someone else possibly the blind sheik. The Americans at the annex were unaware of the kidnapping scenario because that is the kind of thing that would only be known to the most trustworthy of trustworthy. So only a few people in the White House. Petraeus was not in that loop. Petraeus was not in the loop on the video nonsense either. Because it was a fabricated story by whomever in the White House was running the kidnapping show. Soooo, the attack on the mission began. The mission puts out a call for help. We know the rest of the story.

Just a theory.


7 posted on 11/10/2012 10:47:19 AM PST by petitfour
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To: billorites
History will record whether he now chooses "honor" over fear of reprisal from the Administration he served at the end of his career.

Hopefully, if he testifies, he will do so with an acute awareness of duty, honor, history and eternity as his guides.

8 posted on 11/10/2012 10:48:13 AM PST by loveliberty2
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To: billorites
Well, none of us knows for sure why the CIA was there, and what the real mission was. We know the “cover” story was that they were trying to get weapons out of the hands of militants.

There is some speculation that they were also “walking” ala fast and furious guns to Syria. But we don’t know do we. CIA is always doing secretive stuff, where it is considered patriotic to keep it under cover.

Romney stayed off Benghazi. Is it possible that he felt it would be too harmful for the truth to come out?

I am just thinking way back to Eisenhower, and the U-2 pilot Gary Francis Powers. Are there times when discretion seems to be the better part of valor?

Even when we think we have the truth, who knows what we’ll find out 50 years later? To this day, I am not sure we even know the whole truth about Iran/Contra.

9 posted on 11/10/2012 10:53:06 AM PST by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: GoodDay

A Petreaus death warrant is an Obama death warrant


10 posted on 11/10/2012 10:55:21 AM PST by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 ..... Present failure and impending death yield irrational action))
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“All In” — and who can blame him?

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/184t87fb1knshjpg/original.jpg


11 posted on 11/10/2012 10:57:05 AM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: loveliberty2

I wonder whether he was intimidated into the first Congressional testimony with the affair being leverage?

After some rethinking, perhaps Petraeus realized that a flawed but honorable reputation is better than treason.

I believe Petraeus is now holding the ultimate trump card of impeachment. Even if Obama escapes the Senate and isn’t removed, he will be forever tainted.

This is one thing the MSM cannot spin, even with a not guilty verdict. Every American knows what the responsibilities are for a CIC. If it is proven as suspected that Obama refused Cross Border Authority and left Americans to die for a coverup, he will forever be convicted in the hearts of the public.


12 posted on 11/10/2012 11:00:54 AM PST by chriscraft
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To: billorites
then we have to entertain the possibility that David Petraeus is resigning because doing what he did in his testimony to Congress is distasteful in a fashion that a man of his mettle cannot long bear.""""......

I will hold to that belief myself. He has long served his country honorably. What he did is going to haunt him, as he knows the administration did a very traitorous, cowardly and dereliction of duty in regard to Benghazi.

Are there any Military Brass that can stomach what happened in Benghazi? Are there such beings?

The other affair, well not of National concern, unless there was some pillow talk.

I do believe his Grief on Benghazi will lead him to do the right thing and redeem his honor. JMO

13 posted on 11/10/2012 11:05:31 AM PST by annieokie
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To: chriscraft

Everyone needs to check out the NewsMax article on this. I think 0zer0 set Petraeus up from day one and the FBI had to know about this affair in real time. According to the article, the FBI suspected the issue in the Spring 2011. Petraeus was commander in Afghanistan at that time. 0zer0 appointed Petraeus to CIA in April 2011, but he didn’t assume the office until Sep 2011.
The article says the FBI was investigating this for months because Petraeus was sending thousands of emails to her. That had to be in 2011. This means that the FBI had to know what was going on in real time, probably as Petraeus was being vetted for the CIA post, and certainly before he was confirmed, and that is why they couldn’t believe 0zer0 wouldn’t fire this guy, let alone hire the guy.
I don’t see any explanation other than 0zer0 knew about this (or someone high up in the admin did, and didn’t tell anyone... FBI director Mueller had to know, and that means Holder had to know, and probably National Security Director Donolon). That means 0zer0 had to know, and is lying about this when the WH says they first found out about it Wednesday after the election.
I bet 0zer0 knew Petraeus was compromised when he appointed him and counted on this trump card to be used against Petraeus when he needed it, and Benghazi is it. The timeline proves it.
Whether Petraeus has any smoking gun information and will spill it is completely unknown. But for me, I am convinced that 0zer0 knew about the affair and deliberately appointed and retained an obviously compromised CIA director to have something to blackmail him with later. This explains why a compromised CIA director was ok to appoint and retain for over a year, but now a year after the affair, is a liability only because Benghazi is hitting the fan. This confirms everything you need to know about 0zer0.


14 posted on 11/10/2012 11:06:48 AM PST by SDShack (0zer0care = "The Final Solution" - Socialized Euthanasia Healthcare)
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To: loveliberty2
David Petreaus had six weeks in which his voice could have saved our country from the ruin it faces with the reelection of the Pied Piper. Petreaus,especially after the Candy Crowly intervention, could have resigned and gone on every network and cable TV show and every talk radio show in the country. He could have written op Ed articles and sent them to every major newspaper in the country. He chose to lie to congress and then stay silent. I don't have any hope for his doing the right thing now.

As to the stand down order, perhaps none was needed. If the President is the only person able to grant Cross-border authority and he didn't then his saying that he did all that was possible to save our men is half true. Of course he has his fingers crossed behind his back with the rest of the sentence......We did everything possible without the CIC's Permission to cross an international border without the entered country's permission. Why doesn't t anyone in the media or any Republican senators like McCain ask him about CBA?

15 posted on 11/10/2012 11:12:34 AM PST by Freee-dame
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To: Sacajaweau

agree


16 posted on 11/10/2012 11:13:45 AM PST by Donald Rumsfeld Fan (The)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...

Thanks billorites.
17 posted on 11/10/2012 11:16:44 AM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SDShack

I agree with your event timeline. But I still think Petraeus simply allowed Obama to overreach.

If the affair occurred after Afghanistan as suggested, he had to know that his military reputation could survive, albeit tainted by some temporary poor judgement.

If you truly cannot buy an honest man, Petraeus may well be in the drivers seat as history is made. With his disclosure, he is now in some respects a redeemed man, armed with some devastating knowledge.

Just some speculation....


18 posted on 11/10/2012 11:18:14 AM PST by chriscraft
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To: billorites

OK people, let’s play THE BIG GAME! If the American people find out the real truth about Benghazi (and it’s still not out), how would that affect the election? Doesn’t really matter because we’re working off of what the Democrats were afraid would happen. So, they are afraid the truth about Benghazi will cost them the Presidency. Would they also worry that would cost them the Senate? Yep. They were afraid they’d lose the Presidency AND the Senate if the truth about Benghazi came out before the election. Did Obama know that Petraeus was in a bind? Yep. Did Petraeus know that Obama had something to blackmail him with? Yep. Would Petraeus lie to keep Obama from ruining him? In a second. Does this explain why Petraeus would lie to Congress? Yep.


19 posted on 11/10/2012 11:50:02 AM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: blueunicorn6

You think Petraeus will behave honorably now? Nope.


20 posted on 11/10/2012 11:51:00 AM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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