Petraeus Just Another Mystery Victim in the Benghazi Triangle

Townhall.com ^ | November 12, 2012 | John Ransom

[Kaslin]

Watch out! There is a cosmic force at work. One by one, people caught up in the Benghazi Triangle are disappearing.

First it was AFRICOM commander General Carter F. Ham who was given early retirement. Ham’s sphere of military authority extended to Benghazi.

Then Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaouette, who commanded the aircraft carrier attack task group in the Mediterranean near Benghazi, was recalled to Bremerton pending a Navy Inspector General investigation.

And now another coincidental “resignation” in the chain of command working the Benghazi overwatch is either pointing to a cosmic force at work, or gasp! a cover up.

A cover-up in the Obama administration?

I know what you are thinking: No way; not the most transparent, patriotic administration ever.

It must be an act of the gods or perhaps the Mayan calendar.

But really, the recent resignation of General Petraeus from the position of director of the C.I.A. has to be related to Benghazi. Either that or to the Bermuda Triangle.

Because here is another remarkable coincidence: Neither the FBI, nor United States Marines are responsible for the security of consulates and embassies.

The C.I.A. is tasked with that job.

Yes, the C.I.A. that most recently was headed by General David Petraeus.

That C.I.A was also responsible for almost all the communications traffic between Benghazi and the State Department. The comms room at State is literally staffed by ex-C.I.A. specialists.

So now not only do we have three people in the chain of command who were tasked with protecting the embassy, who have suddenly and mysteriously fallen victim to the Benghazi Triangle; we also have the resignation of the very top person responsible for the communications that’s being called into question between State and the consulate.

Notice how quickly the deputy director who is replacing Petraeus is ready to stand before congress next week and truthfully testify by saying “I don’t know, Senator”?

I suppose that's just an unintended benefit of the Petraeus resignation.

While the Pentagon cover stories on Ham and Gaouette look credible, the Petraeus coincidence is implausible outside of intervention by the Lost City of Atlantis.

You know what else is implausible?

That somehow the C.I.A. security office didn’t know that Petraeus was having an affair with Paula Broadwell, or that F.B.I. really cares that Petraeus was having an affair with someone who has a security clearance.

As the F.B.I. has admitted: This is neither a matter of national security or of criminal action.

I hate to tell you this, but senior intelligence and defense officials have been having affairs for a long time. They are so insulated from the ordinary hustle of real life that it’s virtually impossible for the director of the C.I.A. to keep an affair as anything other than an open secret. The C.I.A. is very comfortable handling stuff like this in-house and making sure it doesn’t present a problem.

The rule is that the F.B.I. only proceeds in an investigation in matters pertaining to actual security breaches inside the domestic intelligence community. Absent an actual threat to national security, the F.B.I. would usually look the other way, even accounting for the longtime animosity between the C.I.A. and the F.B.I.

Here’s what else I know: There is no way that the F.B.I. investigated this for months and somehow just recently stumbled upon the affair between Petraeus and Broadwell.

Nor did they suddenly decide that they had to tell the White House the night of the election.

The F.B.I. and everyone else says that this is a personal matter, not a matter of law.

“This is a very personal matter, not a matter of intelligence,” a senior U.S. intelligence official told the Washington Post. “There are protocols for this. I would imagine things have to cross a certain threshold before they are reportable.”

Let’s call the threshold what it is: the Benghazi Triangle.

Cross the Benghazi Triangle and mysterious, unexplainable things begin to happen.

[Sacajaweau]

Dont forget McCrystal (I think) in Afghanistan....who bad mouthed Obama...and was whisked away. Petreaeus replaced him IIRC.

[MestaMachine]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am no longer alone with my suspicions. It is becoming THAT obvious.

Anyone wanting on or off this ping list, please advise.

Benghazi Index

[Ann Archy]

We are witnessing TYRANNY nd no one can help us. There are MORE of THEM than there are of US, and THEY ARE IMMORAL!

[arasina]

Twitchy this morning: Media Using Petraeus Sex Scandal to Further Avoid Discussing Benghazi

[OwenKellogg]

Mesta,

Have you seen Paula’s LinkedIn acccount. Check it out. Of interest, she is a member of “Warlord Loop”:

The Warlord Loop is a by-invitation-only, unclassified email list service where the object is to ventilate crucial national security issues from myriad disciplinary and philosophical perspectives. From this mandate, opportunities for literary collaboration, research, public speaking, consortia, and social interaction frequently emerge.

http://www.warlordloop.org/

[no-to-illegals]

We're caught in a trap. We can't walk out. Because I Love You too Much Freepers. Why can't the o voters see, what they done to we, is it they just don't believe their eyes? Dear zer0 voters, have you not a suspicious mind? Why live your lives to take till its gone? Why give back nothing, and only take? Soon enough do you do not care it will all be gone?

We're caught in a trap. We can't walk out. Because I Love You too Much Freepers. (sung to Elvis tune ... Suspicious Minds)

[no-to-illegals]

an apology for singing, Kaslin. Did the whole House run out? Just the Republicans, you say. That sounds like a plan.

[CPOSharky]

The Mayan calendar option is not looking so bad right now. /S

[JoeProBono]

[no-to-illegals]

singing was that bad?

[Nip]

An excellent post. BTW - I would add a minor update to your title.

Instead of reading the Benghazi Triangle it would read the Chicago Codicil to the Benghazi Triangle.

We still need to clean out one of the major sources of our problems.

[not2worry]

Well this is going to be better than any 24 series only perhaps the Mistress is Kiefer Sutherland.

Obama knows that Patraeus is having an affair and that no Republican would question his credibility to be appointed head of the CIA. Obama holds the card on controlling Patreaus. The chess game comes when Obama didn't realize that the good guys planted the Mistress knowing inside information that Patreaus was going to be tapped for heading the CIA.

Pateaus accepts the position and finds out he has been duped and the Mistress the the General collaborate to expose Obama and his Administration. The General passes information on to the Mistress for safe-keeping and exposure in the event he cannot.

So in the end the fox has been out foxed. The Mistress is not a slut and the General was a good guy after all.

The President is impeached and we get Joe Biden....the moral of the story? Replace John Boehner as soon as possible.

[MestaMachine]

Thanks for this. Gonna check it out a lot closer asap.

[dalebert]

well is the his girlfriend a dem operative.

[MestaMachine]

I’m starting to feel like Bond. Jane Bond.

[dalebert]

dont ya just love that dear old fienstien finds this so important it needs to be investigated but dead americans are not.

[Travis McGee]

Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. It does not concern you serfs and peasants.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

This WSJ article may have been posted elsewhere. Sorry if it is, I just woke up and brain is still in bed. There is some new info here, some interesting. Disclaimer: the info only as good as the sources. [One other note: Jennifer Griffin tweeted last might email may NOT have been sent by Broadwell. I am not taking that to mean it was her husband.]

FBI Scrutinized on Petraeus

Of note:

-Investigation began in May after Kelley received 5 to 10 emails

-Sender not known to Kelley. Accused Kelly of having inappropriate relationship, but Petraeus not named

-"Agents determined the emails were sent from an account shared by Ms. Broadwell and her husband, who live in North Carolina, the officials said." Were able track the location of sender, matching with where Broadwell was when emails sent.

-Gmail accounts set up for Petraeus and Broadwell under false names.

-The affair ended more than four months ago

If, as Jennifer Griffin suggested, these emails were not sent by Broadwell the timing is important. What happened in May to trigger Operation Petraeus take down? I did a quick search of the headlines and among the main stories:

Al-Qaida airline bomb plot thwarted by CIA

CNN: News report: Would-be bomber was a double-agent

UK Telegraph CIA launches inquiry into media leaks over 'underpants' double agen

I doubt the reason can be found in the headlines, not when Chicago Machine is taking down Chief Spook.

[Seizethecarp]

“If, as Jennifer Griffin suggested, these emails were not sent by Broadwell the timing is important.”

Were the e-mails designed to appear that they came from an incompetently hidden e-mail address linked to Mistress Broadwell thus setting her up as the source of Petraeus’ downfall...set up by parties wanting to expose the affair in a manner that couldn't be traced back to them (Chicago? Disgruntled CIA operatives who wanted to get rid of Petraeus?)?

Wouldn't alpha counterintelligence female Broadwell have been sharp enough to either cover her tracks or avoid sending an incriminating e-mail outside the wire, so to speak, to a civilian like Kelley...who's sister happens to be a whistleblower attorney?

You can't make this stuff up!