Petraeus to testify on benghazi today

[brandon]

Will they address the allegations of a CIA prison? Will Petraeus deny it? I think yes, and yes. We'll see. Anyone know what time this is scheduled for?

[hillertexas]

Is everything related to Benghazi behind closed doors today? Are there any hearings this week that will be broadcast that you know of?

No idea on timing on the closed-door Petraeus testimony

[brandon]

Oh I don't know about that, I just assumed this was public testimony. Oops.

[hillertexas]

Oh I don't know about that, I just assumed this was public testimony. Oops. I was hoping for the same thing but, alas,"Petraeus will appear before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed door session on Friday"

[amy31416]

We'll never know his testimony, but did anyone else see this gem?

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/those-other-petraeus-emails/


Likely we will never get to read the email exchanges between Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, but we do have these, accidentally leaked to Mondoweiss, between the celebrated general and the Romney advisor and uberhawk Max Boot. The context is that in 2010 Petraeus submitted a statement before the Senate Armed Services Committee which said that the conflict between Israel and Palestine presented challenges for America’s ability to advance its interests in the Muslim world.

Quickly came word that this banal observation might raise the ire of the Israel Lobby, which insists that no American in a responsible position ever say, or perhaps even think, that our unconditional support for an apartheid regime on the West Bank, might, just maybe, piss off other Muslims and Arabs and have a negative impact on our overall relations with that part of the world.

Petraeus saw himself sliding into deep doo-doo, and jumped into a panicky damage-control mode. He emailed Boot. Boot promised him he would write a short item noting that this dangerous observation appeared only in Petraeus’s written submission to the Senate and not in his actual testimony. Petraeus replied:

From: Petraeus, David H GEN MIL USA USCENTCOM CCCC/CCCC
2:37

Thx, Max. (Does it help if folks know that I hosted Elie Wiesel and his wife at our quarters last Sun night?! And that I will be the speaker at the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps in mid-Apr at the Capitol Dome…)

I love this. The naked fear of the then highly esteemed general, regarded by many as America’s necessary man on horseback, casting about desperately to save himself. Elie Wiesel and I are bestest of friends! Boot calmly reminded him (no doubt wondering how could this ignorant sycophant have risen to the position he was in) that Petraeus wasn’t being accused of anti-Semitism, only entertaining realistic thoughts about Israel.

What novelist could do better depicting the inner life of Washington? Can anyone imagine a George Marshall or Dwight Eisenhower communicating like that?

[Dr.3D]

I was hoping for the same thing but, alas,"Petraeus will appear before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed door session on Friday"
Can't have the mundane privy to any shenanigans now can they?

[bunklocoempire]

We'll never know his testimony, but did anyone else see this gem?

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/those-other-petraeus-emails/

Nice find.

[amy31416]

Nice find.

Thanks. Stuff like this bugs me and I probably obsess over it too much.

This is another interesting article, mostly speculation, on why Obama got rid of Petraeus: http://consortiumnews.com/2012/11/10/behind-petraeuss-resignation/

If it's even remotely close to being correct, this may pan out to be a good thing foreign policy-wise. Though the author might be giving Obama too much credit and have a problem with wishful thinking--but some things do make sense.

It's too long to post all of it, but here's a good excerpt:


Obama’s decision to entrust a position as crucial as CIA director to Petraeus, an ambitious man with strong ties to the neocons, was always a risk. While Obama may have been thinking that he was keeping Petraeus out of a possible run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, the President put Petraeus in a spot where he could manipulate the intelligence that drives government policies.

Finally, as Obama heads into a second term, he appears to be clearing the decks so he can move ahead more aggressively with his own foreign policy. Robert Gates departed in mid-2011; David Petraeus has now resigned in ignominy; and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who often sided with Gates and Petraeus in taking neocon-style policy positions, is expected to step down soon.

Oh, and Brandon--I decided to hijack your thread because I hate starting new ones and figured that it'd just die anyways b/c of the testimony not being public.