JIDDA, Saudi Arabia — John R. Allen, the retired Marine general who served as the top American commander in Afghanistan, has been picked by the Obama administration to coordinate the international effort against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a senior administration official said Thursday.
The Obama administration has stressed the importance of building a broad international coalition to combat the militant group, and General Allen has long experience working with leaders in the region.
During the war in Iraq, General Allen served as the deputy Marine commander in Anbar Province, where he played an important role in strengthening relationships with Sunni tribes and nurturing the Awakening movement.
He later served as the deputy commander of Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East. From 2011 to 2013, General Allen led the American and allied military effort in Afghanistan.
Some of the details of General Allen’s role were still being worked on Thursday, and Obama administration officials had no comment on his anticipated appointment.
In an August article in the online publication Defense One, General Allen described ISIS as a “clear and present danger to the U.S.” America, General Allen wrote, is “the only power capable of organizing a coalition’s reaction to this regional and international threat.”
“What we’re facing in northern Iraq is only partly a crisis about Iraq,” he added. “It is about the region and potentially the world as we know it.”
General Allen’s Background and Integrity:
General John Allen steps down and declines top Nato appointment
General John Allen, the US commander in Afghanistan, has chosen to retire just weeks before he was expected to be appointed the next military chief of Nato.
Barack Obama announced in a statement that he had accepted Allen’s request to retire “so that he can address health issues within his family”. But the marine general’s decision to decline the appointment of supreme allied commander of Nato follows an embarrassing Pentagon investigation into thousands of emails he sent to a woman at the centre of the sex scandal that brought down the CIA director, David Petraeus. The investigation cleared Allen, and the White House said it would press ahead with his nomination to the top Nato military post, but over recent weeks there was speculation within the military that Allen would back out.
Allen told the Washington Post that the investigation “took a toll” on his ailing wife, who suffers from various health issues including an autoimmune disorder.
“For more than 35 years, my beloved Kathy has devotedly stood beside me and enabled me to serve my country,” Allen said in announcing his retirement. “It is profoundly sobering to consider how much of that time I have spent away from her and our two precious daughters. It is now my turn to stand beside them, to be there for them when they need me most.”
Allen’s nomination to the top Nato military post was put on hold in November after the general was caught up in an FBI investigation that exposed the affair between Petraeus and his biographer, Paula Broadwell. The FBI was brought in when another woman, Jill Kelley, complained that Broadwell sent her threatening emails warning her to stay away from Petraeus.
The investigation revealed that Allen had sent Kelley, a socialite well known on the Tampa military base where both men had served, thousands of emails, some of which Pentagon officials described as racy and flirtatious. A subsequent Defense Department investigation cleared Allen of any breach of the military code of conduct, but the incident was highly embarrassing, in part because of revelations about the volume of emails and other communications between the general and Kelley, which amounted to more than 20,000 pages over two years.
General James Amos, the marine corps commandant, told the American Enterprise Institute last week that Allen had taken the investigation hard even though it cleared him.
“The stuff that took place as a result of the Petraeus fallout took a pretty heavy toll on John, just because he’s a man of such great integrity and his integrity was being questioned,” he said.
Obama expressed his “deep, personal appreciation for his extraordinary service over the last 19 months in Afghanistan, as well as his decades of service in the United States marine corps”.
Allen’s tour in Afghanistan, which ended last week, oversaw a shift from US-led assaults on the Taliban to an emphasis on local security forces bearing the brunt of the fighting. At the same time, Allen managed the first major reduction in the numbers of American troops as the US prepares to pull combat forces out by the end of next year.
In an interview with the New York Times earlier this month, Allen said that his judgement of what amounted to success had shifted while he was in Afghanistan.
“When I got here, I measured success in how well we and how often we were fighting. Today, it’s a very different environment. The Afghans are virtually entirely in the lead across Afghanistan,” he said.
Allen said that he considered the war in Afghanistan “worth it”.
“This is bigger than anyone of us. It’s bigger than the president. It’s bigger than the president of Afghanistan, because this isn’t about today. This is about tomorrow. This is about doing all we can to facilitate President Karzai with his desire to be successful. But it’ll be about doing all we can do to set up his successor for success,” he said.
“Let me make sure I’m clear on this. Nothing is sure in a post-conflict society. But I think the indicators, as far as I’m concerned, are that we’re on the right trajectory. What you have to understand, what people have to understand is some of these reforms take a very long time.
“In an environment where human rights were crashed under multiple different invasions or civil wars or the Taliban, creating once again the kind of bias for human rights that we would all expect in the western society, just doesn’t come easily to this country.”
‘The Petraeus Files’: Jill Kelley & Gen. John Allen’s Leaked Emails Revealed (BOOK EXCERPT)
Look, there’s a perfectly good explanation for the rumors that Jill Kelley and Gen. John Allen had an inappropriate email relationship. And we have the leaked emails to prove it. (Even though Kelley denies anything untoward took place, and Allen has been cleared of all wrongdoing.)
Writer and performer Ted Travelstead’s new book, “The Petraeus Files,” is a humorous look at the scandalous events that could have transpired leading up to the surprise resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus.
“The Petreaus Files” will be available February 12. Below is an exclusive excerpt from the book, revealing the actual reason Kelley and Allen exchanged so many emails: Their shared love of TV fan fiction.
—
SEPTEMBER 2010
[*Editor’s Note: While going through the vast correspondence I came across thousands of messages between Jill Kelley and General John Allen that at first perplexed me, but I eventually figured out that they were something called “fan fiction.” Kelley and Allen were trading fiction that they had written based on television shows. Using the characters from these shows, they would make up their own plotlines, often going so far as to insert themselves into the story, and interacting with the fictional characters. I could not find the genesis of this particular type of correspondence in the collected files, so I’ assuming it was a conversation that began IRL. (Internet slang for “in real life.”) What follows is the earliest dated correspondence of this manner between them.]
From: Jill Kelley <princesskell3@****.com>Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2010 10:22:53 -0500 To: John Allen <dearjjjohn@****.com>Subject: Princess Kelley’s Super Sweet 16Jill woke up on the morning of her 16th birthday to a loud crash of thunder. As she peered out her window the heavens opened up and let loose a torrential downpour of rain.
“OH. MY. GOD.” she said to the stuffed animals on her canopy bed. “This can’t be happening. Not today. Any day but today.”
But it was happening! The yard was soaking wet! She could see a few of the mini-treasure chests that she had had the servants bury throughout the yard floating weakly in large puddles, having been forced out of the ground by the heavy rain.
“LUPE!! MIGUEL!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “GET UP HERE NOW!!!”
After a moment, her two servants, the ones that were specifically charged with attending to her every need, came huffing into the room.
Her little dog, Pillows, began to bark furiously as the Mexicans entered. This usually made her smile, even when she was angry, but not today.
“WHO BURIED THE MINI-TREASURE CHESTS??!!! WHO DID IT??!!!” she screamed at the two cowering middle-aged immigrants.
They looked meekly at each other, before Miguel said quietly, “Eet was me, meesus Jeel. I barry dem.”
“WELL LOOK AT THEM NOW, YOU IDIOT,” she said, pulling the pink chiffon curtain aside so he could see the sodden yard.
The small, dark-skinned man approached and looked out, wincing when he saw the little floating chests.
““If this ruins my party today, I will make sure you never EVER have a roof over your head again. Either of you,” she whispered.
They both looked at the ground.
“NOW GET OUT THERE AND COLLECT THEM, DRY THE CONTENTS, AND MAKE SURE THEY GET BURIED RIGHT ONCE IT STOPS RAINING,” she screamed.
They hurried out, and she collapsed on the bed in tears. Her party would be ruined!
That’s all I have so far!!!!
Jilly
Jill Kelley
CEO Florida Matchmaking Corporation
—
From: John Allen <dearjjjohn@****.com>Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2010 8:56:12 -0500 To: Jill Kelley <princesskell3@****.com>Subject: RE: Princess Kelley’s Super Sweet 16[I love it! Mind if I continue???]
Army JROTC Cadet Master Sergeant John Allen was called into the gymnasium locker room by his squad commander. He stood at attention and waited.
“Cadet Master Sergeant Allen, are you aware of what day it is?” said the squad commander.
“YES, SIR! JILL KELLEY’S SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY, SIR!!!” replied Master Sergeant Allen.
“That is correct, Master Sergeant Allen,” said the squad commander. “And do you see what it looks like outside, Master Sergeant? WHAT IS HAPPENING OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW, MASTER SERGEANT ALLEN?!”
“IT’S RAINING CATS AND DOGS, SIR!” said Master Sergeant Allen.
“Once again you are correct, Master Sergeant,” said the squad commander. “Now here’s the hard part. Do you know what that means?”
“THAT MEANS THAT JILL KELLEY’S SUPER SWEET SIXTEEN PARTY VERY WELL MAY BE RUINED, SIR!” said the Master Sergeant, a bit quieter this time.
“Again, correct, Master Sergeant. Now. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?!” the squad commander yelled approximately an inch from Master Sergeant Allen’s face.
“I’M GOING TO FIX IT, SIR!” replied Master Sergeant Allen.
“Well, go do it then, Master Sergeant. And do it well,” said the squad commander.
“SIR, YES, SIR!” cried Master Sergeant Allen, before turning on his heel and exiting the locker room, walking through the gymnasium, and out into the pouring rain.
It would not be an easy fix, but he knew that all his Army JROTC training had prepared him for this exact moment, and considering his sixteenth birthday had just passed a week earlier he knew he was just the man for the job.
“That’s right,” he said to himself as the rain ran down from his soaking hair and drenched his uniform, which had just moments before been perfectly starched. “I’m a man now, and this is just the job I’ve been waiting for.”
He straddled his trusty old Indian motorcycle that he’d built himself from parts, and kicked the starter with the force of a young buck in rutting season.
As the machine came to life between his legs, he smiled, shook the water from his hair, and prepared himself to tackle one hell of a challenge.
“Happy Birthday, Jilly baby,” he chuckled, and roared off into the rain to save the day.
[So far so good?? This is fun!]
John
[*Editor’s Note: This particular story goes back and forth between Jill Kelley and General Allen for 347 pages and ends with General Allen’s character, JROTC Master Sergeant Allen, fighting Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz in an underground bunker as a tied-up Jill Kelley screams for Maroon 5’s Adam Levine to please tell her parents that they got her the wrong color Cadillac Escalade.]
https://sttpml.org/schadenfreude-blog-no-1-tip-of-the-spear-petraeus-and-broadwell-all-in/
https://sttpml.org/sttpml-accepting-nominations-for-the-sttpml-in-name-of-nobel-prize-for-chutzpah/
Rule of Law or Rule of the Ruthless: Why Law International and Otherwise
Just War and the Interrelated Predicates and Precedents of Nuremberg
Obama: Imperialism With a New Mask
U.S. Imperialism and the Sisyphean Quest For Full-Spectra Dominance and Power
U.S.-China Secret History and My Father’s Memories Part I (Essay)
U.S.-China Secret History and My Father’s Memories Part II Detailed Research Notes Addendum
Pictured with Petraeus and his wife: Glamorous liaison officer who complained to FBI about emails from CIA boss’s ‘jealous’ mistress
- Details of Petraeus’ affair with Broadwell emerged when she allegedly sent threatening messages to Jill Kelley – an unpaid social liaison to the military
- The FBI was contacted by the recipient – and the emails were tracked to Paula Broadwell – who by then had been involved with Petraeus
- Friend says that Broadwell is ‘not the type’ to carry on an affair
- Through their investigation, Federal agents discovered that the general had shared explicit emails with Broadwell
This is the woman who complained to the FBI about harassing emails from the mistress of Gen David Petraeus.
Jill Kelley, 37, of Tampa, Florida, is an unpaid social liaison officer to military headquarters in the city and has a longstanding friendship with Petraeus, who quit as CIA director in disgrace last week.
Mrs Kelley lives in a $1.3million house with her husband Scott, a surgeon, and their three children, age nine, seven and six.
She packed her bags and sped away from her lavish home on Sunday night after national news media descended on her upscale neighborhood.
Scroll down for videos
Celebration: (Left to right) Jill Kelley’s twin sister Natalie Khawam, Gen Petraeus, Scott and Mrs Kelley, and Holly Petraeus watch the Gasparilla parade from the Kelley family’s front lawn in this 2010 photo
Photo op: Gen Petraeus’ wife Holly, left, is pictured with Scott and Jill Kelley at their home in Tampa, Florida
Mrs Kelley told agents that Paula Broadwell, the 40-year-old biographer who has been identified as the ex-CIA boss’ mistress, sent her harassing emails telling her to ‘back off’ Petraeus.
An online picture album posted by the family talks about meeting Gen Petraeus at the family’s home.
‘We and our family have been friends with Gen Petraeus and his family for over five years. We respect his and his family’s privacy and want the same for us and our three children,’ she said in statement on Sunday.
There was no answer at the home tonight when called by MailOnline. The family had a large birthday party for one of their daughters on Sunday, which included catered sandwiches a disc jockey and more than 100 guests.
Mrs Kelley and her husband Scott, a cancer surgeon, declined to speak with news media gathered outside their home on Sunday.
Ties: Jill Kelley is an unpaid social liaison to the military base in Tampa where Petraeus worked for two years
Mrs Kelley is an unpaid social liaison to U.S. Central Command — the military headquarters based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa that oversees operations in the Middle East, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
Gen Petraeus was the head of the unit — CENTCOM for short — between 2008 and 2010, after he engineered the surge in Iraq and before President Obama tapped him to lead the surge in Afghanistan.
Sources said Mrs Kelley and her husband were fixtures at social gatherings at Central Command.
The official said the coalition countries represented at Central Command gave Mrs Kelley an appreciation certificate on which she was referred to as an ‘honorary ambassador’ to the coalition, but she has no official status and is not employed by the U.S. government.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the case publicly, said Kelley is known to drop the ‘honorary’ part and refer to herself as an ambassador.
A friend of Mrs Kelley told ABC News that she and Petraeus were close, but that the relationship never went any farther than friendship.
Details of the affair between Petraeus and Broadwell reportedly came to light during a FBI probe of the emails that she allegedly sent to Mrs Kelley.
The new revelation raises the possibility that Broadwell was growing increasingly jealous of a government employee whose job it was to keep in contact with Petraeus.
Friends: Gen Petraeus and his wife Holly were guests at the Kelleys’ $1.2million house in Tampa, Florida
Mrs Kelley, who feared for her safety, contacted the FBI.
A government official told the New York Post that the emails contained such language as: ‘I know what you did,’ ‘back off’ and ‘stay away from my guy.’
The official added: ‘(Broadwell) clearly thought something was going on’ and thought she was in a ‘lovers triangle.’
A person who knows both Mrs Kelley and Petraeus confirmed their friendship and said she saw him often.
Petraeus broke off the steamy affair with Broadwell before it was exposed by the FBI probe, according to friends of the retired general.
He quit his post as CIA director on Friday while offering an apology over the affair.
The break-up: Gen Petraeus ended the affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell, right, before it was exposed by an FBI probe, according to friends of the retired general
His apology came as reports show that the affair blew up in Petraeus’ face after Broadwell allegedly sent the emails threatening Mrs Kelley.
Kelley and her twin sister Natalie appeared in a 2003 Food Network competition that pitted two sets of twins against each other in the kitchen.
Petraeus told friends that he had begun the affair with Broadwell shortly after he had left the Army to begin his work with the CIA, according to ABC News.
Those close to Broadwell are casting doubt over what she has been accused of.
A Woman Scorned? It is being claimed that the affair between David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell emerged after she sent threatening emails to Ms Kelley
David Bixler, a wounded soldier who met Broadwell through a charity in 2010, told ABC: ‘I have some serious questions about who is connecting these dots… Paula Broadwell is not the type… she isn’t.’
Ed Williams, a neighbor who lives two houses down from the Broadwell family in Charlotte, North Carolina, neighborhood, told Reuters: ‘Everyone is surprised and shocked.’
Earlier in the week, Williams, a retired editor, saw Broadwell with her two children when she was voting in last week’s U.S. presidential election.
He told Reuters that Broadwell appeared chatty and cheerful. Neighbors were working on putting together a belated party to celebrate the release of her book.
‘Affair’: Paula Broadwell (right) allegedly sent a threatening email to scare off another woman she suspected of being too close to the retired general, a State Department military liaison
‘She gave no indication all this was going on,’ Williams said.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Broadwell had shown up on the CIA radar before over working over concerns about what she was putting on her Facebook page.
The Tribune reported that there had been concerns about whether Broadwell was giving away sensitive security information in her posts.
Broadwell, who is married with two young sons, has not responded to multiple emails and phone messages.
She had planned to celebrate her 40th birthday in Washington this weekend, with many reporters invited. Her husband Scott emailed guests to cancel the party.
It is also claimed that Broadwell used Petraeus’ own Gmail account to send the emails, and when the FBI began to investigate an obvious national security issue instead uncovered explicit messages between the two sent from the decorated war hero’s own account – indicating an affair.
‘Other woman’: Paula Broadwell, left, is married and has two children. Petraeus has been married to his wife Holly, pictured right, for 37 years, and they also have two children
Three senior law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case told the Washington Post that when Petraeus’ name was raised in connection with the threatening emails, the FBI thought that security had been breached.
CIA officers long had expressed concern about Broadwell’s unprecedented access to the director.
She frequently visited the spy agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to meet Petraeus in his office, accompanied him on morning runs around the CIA grounds and often attended public functions as his guest, according to two ex-intelligence officials.
Investigating the threatening messages, FBI agents uncovered evidence that he and 40-year-old Broadwell were involved in an extramarital affair.
FBI investigators first interviewed Petraeus about what they had found two weeks ago and informed him that no criminal charges would be brought and no-one is thought to have discussed the possibility of his resignation.
Awkward: Holly Petraeus (left in white) and Paula Broadwell sit in the front row during the CIA confirmation hearing of US Army General David Petraeus
But, according to the Washington Post, after an investigation Justice Department officials were unclear what to do next, because no crime had occurred nor breach of security.
They contacted James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence and told him they had compromising material about Petraeus.
Clapper in turn spoke to Petraeus and advised him to resign.
‘Director Clapper learned of the situation from the FBI on Tuesday evening around 5pm,’ the intelligence official said to the Washington Post.
‘In subsequent conversations with Director Petraeus, Director Clapper advised Director Petraeus to resign.’
Director Clapper also added that he did not see the need for an internal investigation by the CIA, citing it as ‘a very personal matter, not a matter of intelligence.’
On Wednesday evening, Clapper went to the White House and on Thursday morning President Obama was informed.
Close: Broadwell first met Petraeus when he visited Harvard University, where she was a student
Later on Thursday, Petraeus arrived to see the President and offered his resignation, which was accepted on Friday.
The Washington Post also reported that in an email message to a friend, Petraeus apologized for his actions.
‘He was deeply sorry for the pain he has caused his family,’ the friend said.
‘He also noted how much he loved his job at the agency. He said he really relished the intellectual challenge there.’
Broadwell did not respond to voice mail or email messages seeking comment. Broadwell’s biography, ‘All In: The Education of General David Petraeus,’ was written with Vernon Loeb, a Washington Post editor, and published in January.
West Point Graduate: Broadwell, pictured here in Afghanistan, has more than a decade of U.S. military service
Lawmakers from both parties joined Obama in praising Petraeus.
Obama said in a statement that Petraeus had provided ‘extraordinary service to the United States for decades’ and had given a lifetime of service that ‘made our country safer and stronger.’
CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell will serve as acting director, Obama said. Morell was the key CIA aide in the White House to President George W. Bush during the 9/11 attacks.
‘I am completely confident that the CIA will continue to thrive and carry out its essential mission,’ Obama said.
The resignation comes at a sensitive time.
The administration and the CIA have struggled to defend security and intelligence lapses before the attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others.
Broadwell, pictured with Lt Col. Steve Grenier in Gizab, writes opinion pieces on leadership
It was an issue during the presidential campaign that ended with Obama’s re-election Tuesday.
The CIA has come under intense scrutiny for providing the White House and other administration officials with talking points that led them to say the Benghazi attack was a result of a film protest, not a militant terror attack.
It has become clear that the CIA was aware the attack was distinct from the film protests roiling across other parts of the Muslim world.
Morell rather than Petraeus now is expected to testify at closed congressional briefings next week on the assault on the consulate in Benghazi, which occurred on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Petraeus, who turned 60 on Wednesday, has been married for 38 years to Holly Petraeus, whom he met when he was a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.
She was the daughter of the academy superintendent. They have two children, and their son led an infantry platoon in Afghanistan.
Oath of office: Petraeus was sworn in last September by Joe Biden with his wife Holly at his side
The retired general told his staffers in a statement that he was guilty of ‘extremely poor judgment’ in engaging in the affair. ‘Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.’
At FBI headquarters, spokesman Paul Bresson declined to comment on the information that the affair had been discovered in the course of an investigation by the bureau.
Petraeus, who became CIA director in September 2011, was known as a shrewd thinker and hard-charging competitor.
His management style was recently lauded in a Newsweek article by Broadwell.
The article listed Petraeus’ ‘rules for living.’ No. 5 was: ‘We all make mistakes. The key is to recognize them, to learn from them, and to take off the rear view mirrors – drive on and avoid making them again.’
Petraeus, in his email, told his CIA employees that he treasured his work with them ‘and I will always regret the circumstances that brought that work with you to an end.’
Family Man: In a photograph from 2004 David Petraeus, (center), commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division, kisses his wife, Holly, (second left), as his son, Stephen, (left), and daughter, (Anne), right, look on
The director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said Petraeus’ departure represented ‘the loss of one of our nation’s most respected public servants.
From his long, illustrious Army career to his leadership at the helm of CIA, Dave has redefined what it means to serve and sacrifice for one’s country.’
Other CIA directors have resigned under unflattering circumstances. CIA Director Jim Woolsey left over the discovery of a KGB mole, and director John Deutch left after the revelation that he had kept classified information on his home computer.
Glory Days: David Petraeus is America’s best-known general and arguably the most consequential Army leader of his generation. Here he salutes troops in Afghanistan in 2011
Before Obama brought Petraeus to the CIA, he was credited with salvaging the U.S. war in Iraq.
‘His inspirational leadership and his genius were directly responsible – after years of failure – for the success of the surge in Iraq,’ Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said Friday.
President George W. Bush sent Petraeus to Iraq in February 2007, at the peak of sectarian violence, to turn things around as head of U.S. forces.
He oversaw an influx of 30,000 U.S. troops and moved troops out of big bases so they could work more closely with Iraqi forces scattered throughout Baghdad.
Petraeus’ success was credited with paving the way for the eventual U.S. withdrawal.
VIDEO: First glimpse of Jill Kelley leaving her home Monday
VIDEO: Email trail and Paula Broadwell on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show
- Petraeus Broke Off Affair, Friends Say
- Veteran: Paula Broadwell ‘Not the Type’ to Have Affair
- Petraeus’ mistress sent harassing e-mails to woman who ‘threatened’ relationship: sources – m.NYPOST.com
- FBI probe of Petraeus triggered by e-mail threats from biographer, officials say
- Petraeus let guard down with Broadwell :: The Salt Lake Tribune Mobile Edition
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/16/petraeus-scandal-jill-kelly-tampa-society
Petraeus scandal: Jill Kelley and the Tampa society set
“No, no, NO!” says an august member of the Tampa Historical Society, who, on mention of Jill Kelley’s name, emits a scream down the phone.
“NO,” she says, as I persist with the question. “This is not who we are. I won’t talk about it. I WON’T be tainted.”
Recovering, she recommends a good place for lunch. This is the American south, after all.
This is the tangible effect of the David Petraeus scandal on society in Tampa, a balmy resort city in western Florida. Tampa has become the focus of the affair because it is home to Jill Kelley, the socialite whose circle encompassed not only the Petraeuses, but General John Allen, Petraeus’s successor in Afghanistan, an FBI agent identified as Frederick Humphries II, and a community now scrambling to distance itself from the story.
Tampa social life also provided what all parties must now consider a regrettable photo – of Holly and David Petraeus standing with the Kelleys at a party at their house, bedecked in beads, the general looking, out of uniform, disconcertingly stoop-shouldered and unmartial. This image has come to symbolise the poor judgment that would bring down Petraeus, forced to resign when news emerged of his affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell (below).
For the hosts, the party must have represented the pinnacle of a campaign to establish themselves at the heart of the social swirl that centres on the MacDill air force base in Tampa, a milieu of wealthy business people, aspiring politicians, four-star generals and anyone with the chutzpah – and credit, until it ran out – to put on a good show. Even when it fell apart, it would rival even Tom Wolfe’s powers of manic exaggeration.
In the streets around the Kelley house, the trees hang with Spanish moss, the elegant properties protected with preservation orders. The Kelleys moved to the Hyde Park North neighbourhood 10 years ago from the north-east US when Scott Kelley got a job at a cancer clinic in Tampa. Their house was empty when I visited, a single Mercedes in the drive, although Jill Kelley, 37, was seen at an upper window the previous day, looking down at the camera crews like a better dressed version of the Woman in Black. She promptly called 911, describing herself, in a gift to news teams, as “an honorary consul general, so I have involability [sic] … I don’t know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well.”
Honorary consul
Kelly is an honorary consul general, appointed, bafflingly, by the South Koreans, who are now busily reviewing the honorific. Other choice details include the fact she has a problematic twin sister; she is married to Scott Kelley, a doctor; and they bought their home for $1.5m in 2004. As well as three children, they have nine open lawsuits, brought by various banks and credit card companies trying to recover their assets.
They throw parties which generals from the air base attend, some of whom lose their heads and enter into email correspondence with Kelley that would sit better in a story about teenage sexting. For her part, Broadwell appears to have been jealous of Kelley’s social relationship with Petraeus. Broadwell sent anonymous emails to Kelley demanding that she back off; Kelley went to her friend, the FBI agent, setting off the investigation that brought Petraeus down. None of which answers the broader question: who on Earth are these people and what is exactly their deal?
The neighbours aren’t saying. “Do you live here, ma’am?” asks a photographer as I approach the house, giving me his best head-boy smile before turning away in disgust; he has just squandered A-grade civility on a journalist.
There is a clue in the local press. Shortly after arriving in Florida, the Kelleys were pictured in Tampa Bay Magazine, a monthly glossy with a Tatler-style gossip column, standing chummily with their new neighbours.
“The Tampa social scene is like [Washington] DC,” says Aaron Fodiman, editor of the Tampa Bay Magazine. “People develop affinities for different groups. There are those in Tampa who become friendly with, for example, visiting conductors who come to the orchestras here. There are the politicians. There are different niches of celebrity, influence and power. It’s just the way the world works.”
Top brass
Arguably the most glamorous set in Tampa is top brass at MacDill, particularly after 9/11, when the community felt proud to host US central command. For gravitas, for sheer national importance, who wouldn’t want the man who ran the war in Afghanistan in their social circle? A friendship was born between Kelley and Petraeus, as were friendships between Kelley and Allen; and Kelley and the rogue FBI agent whose snooping into Petraeus’ emails brought the whole circuit crashing down.
That party of the Kelleys has come to encapsulate the scene, the Petraeuses arriving with a 28-cop motorcycle escort, heavily flanked by security who, according to reports at the time and in contention for best supporting detail of the entire saga, were required at some point to Taser another guest.
Fodiman, at the party in his role as chronicler of the social scene, is inclined to defend the Kelleys from accusations of vulgarity. “It’s one day,” he says. “It’s like Mardi Gras. It’s an anomaly.”
The question still remains: how did Kelley, operating on fewer resourcesthan her millionaire rivals and with no particular social capital (she grew up in Philadelphia, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants who ran a Middle Eastern restaurant) attract the best guests and so decisively keep them? Not only keep them but, in the case of both Petraeus and Allen, get them, for example, to lend their names as character witnesses in her twin sister’s custody case, a woman described by the judge as having offered “misrepresentations about virtually everything”?
At the Tampa Yacht and Country Club, there are theories, most of them about the voodoo art of self-promotion. “People here live good lives but don’t need to be advertising it on a regular basis,” says one of several committee members, after emitting a dry chuckle at mention of Jill and Scott Kelley. “These were people more inclined to be in the headlines. I’m not judging.”
“I don’t know those folks,” says another. There is a long pause. “We’ve been here for 105 years.”
‘Silicone attitude’
“These types of things are all fuelled by alcohol,” says Laurie Hicks, the wife of a retired wing commander living in Tampa and veteran of the circuit, who characterises Jill Kelley as “silicone implants, silicone attitude”, and Paula Broadwell as “a foolish twit”. She says loftily: “A more usual military-civilian liaison person would be, say, the governor of Massachusetts. Not the wife of a surgeon.”
“You’ve come to the one place that doesn’t give a rat’s ass,” sniffs a nail technician putting the finishing touches to a customer’s nails, a five-minute walk from the Kelley house. She turns to her colleague: “Did you hear she called 911? Doesn’t that just say it all?”
The women sigh. “Do you think Hillary Clinton will ever be involved in a sex scandal?”
It’s not complicated, says Fodiman, who can’t see what the fuss is about. “She is charming, lovely, a fun person at the party. We’re told not to judge a book by it’s cover, but you know: it’s a very nice cover.”
Miriam Leyva, who has for years done Kelley’s hair, won’t hear a word against her: “I have nothing negative to say about her. Terrific husband, very nice guy. Cute girls. And she’s friendly. A bubbly personality.”
Before all this blew up, did she think of her as a local celebrity? “In a way, yes. I knew they had a big house on Bayshore. I knew they were involved in all these parties. I knew she knew people in the military.”
How did she know that? “She would mention it. She would take a phone call and say, oh, you know: that was so-and-so.”
Of course. And on the other side of the scandal, what accounts for the men who attract so much less opprobrium than the women?
“Guys are all the same,” says the client having her nails done, a lifelong resident of Tampa who explains that “old money” in this town means going three generations back. She smiles. “No matter how big and important they are, they still need their egos stroked.”