So, General Petraeus succumbed to the very thing that so many soldiers do - booty.
I'm conflicted. Under his doctrine, essentially, I deployed twice to Iraq. General Petraeus literally wrote the book on how we do counterinsurgency. His legacy as a soldier will remain mostly untarnished. He was stupid, and I'm a little surprised that a four-star general made the mistake that so many lower-ranked/younger/dumb soldiers do, deployment after deployment. And it's sad to see his career end like this.
There is more to the story, and more to come, I'm sure. Another 4-star, another woman. I knew when he resigned, there was more to the story than "just an affair".
So, I'm disappointed. Really disappointed. In a man to whom I admired as someone who seemed like a straight-shooter. Flawless. A soldier to emulate. A soldier who was actually not an egomaniac. People liked him.
And it's sad that with it monopolizing the news, it overshadows three soldiers affiliated with D's Army Reserves Unit in Canandaigua who were killed in Afghanistan. All in their 20s. They paid the ultimate sacrifice. One, unbeknownst to his family because of his natural humility, was already awarded the Bronze Star with Valor for saving the lives of other soldiers earlier this year. With sadness I watch my husband prepare his uniform to attend funerals all over the state.
The war is very real. Don't you forget it.
Krista, I read that Petraeus was somewhere in the line of nuclear succession. Thus he was held to a very high standard where adultery was not a minor sin.
ReplyDeleteI'll agree with you. He also created the "high bar" against which he was compared. Kind of like "ICEMAN" from the movie Top Gun - smooth, no mistakes.
DeleteAfter reading the Army Times on-line, three 4-star generals have gotten themselves in some hot water, including the commander of AFRICOM. Clearly, all the "mandatory training" us lower ranks got about doing the right thing...well, it goes without saying now that maybe some top brass need a refresher course!