Schadenfreude Blog No. 1 ‘Tip of the Spear’ Petraeus and Broadwell “All-In”

Welcome to the sub-blog called The Schadenfreude Blog with the introductory videos and essays on the recent resignation of David Petraeus as Director of CIA. See also Petraeus the Go-To Guy for Bush

“Those who seek power are invariably the least fit to hold it and to wield it” (Plato)

“First-rate, hires first-rate, as part of being first-rate, is the capacity and inclination to find, value, embrace and utilize competence–rather than to fear or envy it. Second-rate, hires third and fourth-rate, and looks for toadies and sycophants so that it looks good in relation. And third and fourth-rate go on to hire fifth and sixth-rate so they look good in relation; and mediocrity metastasizes like a cancer.” (Homer Henry Craven Jr. 747 Captain, Northwest Airlines 1952-1985; Combat Veteran, 94 missions, 490th Bomb Squadron, “Burma Bridge Busters”, 14th Air Force, China-Burma-India WWII)

General David Petraeus whose previous superior officer Admiral Fallon had this to say about him:

“[Admiral Fallon] told Petraeus that he considered him to be “an ass-kissing little chickenshit” and added, “I hate people like that”, the sources say. That remark reportedly came after Petraeus began the meeting by making remarks that Fallon interpreted as trying to ingratiate himself with a superior. See a full essay on the reasons for Admiral Fallon’s take on Petraeus that was an early warning not heeded by someone who knew him well.

That extraordinarily contentious start of Fallon’s mission to Baghdad led to more meetings marked by acute tension between the two commanders. Fallon went on develop his own alternative to Petraeus’s recommendation for continued high levels of U.S. troops in Iraq during the summer.” IPS Sept. 12 2007″

Schadenfreude is a human emotion that involves deriving pleasure from the misfortune of others. It was noted as one of the primary human emotions as far back as the Classical Greeks and even before in Chinese literature. Today, the New York Times has suggested that we are living in a kind of “Age of Schadenfreude”.

Not only does it come from the notion that “misery loves company”, but also from the psychological relief that comes from “glad-it-wasn’t-me” or even “Karma-time-for-that-whatever epithet” types of emotions. Then there is pure envy as well as class warfare. This blog focuses more on the class warfare and the general theme “Oh what a tanged web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” (Sir Walter Scott)

In this sub-blog called The Schadenfreude Blog, we will feature stories of the fallen who more than deserved it. We will not cover or celebrate any stories with loss of life; even of those who might have deserved it and whose exit from this earth likely made it a better place simply with their absence. Sort of like the famous “Darwin Award” for the person who killed himself or herself off in the most idiotic ways and thus/also improved the social gene pool with their exit.

Schadenfreude Lyrics to follow this music:

Schadenfreude lyrics

Gary:
Right now you are down and out
And feelin’ really crappy.

Nikki:
I’ll say.

Gary:
And when I see how sad you are,
It sorta makes me happy.

Nikki:
Happy?

Gary:
Sorry Nikki.
Human nature-
Nothing I can do.
It’s Schadenfreude
Making me feel glad that I’m not you.

Nikki:
Now that’s not very nice Gary.

Gary:
I didn’t say it was nice,
But everybody does it.
‘Dya ever clap when a waitress falls
And drops a tray of glasses?

Nikki:
Yea.

Gary:
And ain’t it fun to watch figure skaters
Fallin’ on their asses?

Nikki:
Sure.

Gary:
Don’t you feel all warm and cozy
Watching people out in the rain?

Nikki:
You bet.

Gary:
That’s

Both:
Schadenfreude.

Gary:
People taking pleasure in your pain.

Nikki:
Oh. Schadenfreude, huh? What’s that? Some kind of Nazi word?

Gary:
Yup. It’s German for ‘happiness at the misfortune of others’.

Nikki:
‘Happiness at the misfortune of others’
That is German!
Watching a vegetarian
Being told she just ate chicken.

Gary:
Or watching a frat boy
Realize just what he put his dick in.

Nikki:
Being on an elevator when somebody
Shouts ‘Hold the door!’

Gary:
Oh yea!

Both:
No!
Schadenfreude…

Gary:
Fuck you lady!
That’s what stairs are for!

Nikki:
Ooh- How about:
Straight A student’s getting B’s…

Gary:
Exes getting STDs…

Nikki:
Waking doormen from their naps…

Gary:
Watching tourists reading maps…

Nikki:
Football players getting tackled…

Gary:
CEOs getting shackled…

Nikki:
Watching actors never reach…

Both:
The ending of their Oscar speech!
Schadenfreude!
Schadenfreude!
Schadenfreude!
Schadenfreude!

Gary:
The world needs people like you and me
Who’ve been knocked around by fate
‘Cause when people see us
They don’t want to be us
And that makes them feel great

Nikki:
Sure.
We provide a vital service to society.

Both:
You and me!
Schadenfreude
Making the world a better place
Making the world a better place
Making the world a better place to be!

Gary:
S-C-H-A-D-E-N-F-R-E-U-D-E!

these lyrics are submitted by kaan

or:

Schadenfreude lyrics

I’m not evil,
You’re just weak,
You’re too afraid to taste a thing so sweet,
It’s ok,
More for me,
I think you’re better off dead.

I can’t deny what is a part of me,
I take joy out of your misery,
Lay down,
Lay down,
Lay down,
I guess that’s what you do best.

I can’t give you what you need but I can give you what you want,
I’ve found that all the things I love I despise,
I can’t give you what you need but I can give you what you want,
And when you hate the things you love then learn to love the things
That you hate.

Chorus
I want one thing,
Suffering,
I want one thing,
You living in hell,
It’s so much better than apologies,
I want to watch it swell,
Don’t need to be the one who does it to you,
Don’t need to twist the knife or push it through,
Just want to see that you’re in misery too,
Just like me inside.

Their greedy eyes light up,
They’re salivating,
Everyone knows there’s no better way,
It’s like a crime to you,
It’s like the best for me,
Let it all out.

You can’t give me what I need but you will give me what I want,
And then I’ll leave what’s left of you to the flies,
You can’t give us what we need but you will give us what we want,
My dear your guests are waiting,
Time to begin

Chorus

I think you’re better off dead,
I think you’re better off dead,
I think you’re better off dead,
I think you’re better off dead.

Petraeus Continued:

But Army Generals who appeared and made themselves appear larger than life, while holding others to standards they did not hold themselves to, are fair game.

In the case of Petraeus, like his idol General George C Marshall, Petraeus was since West Point vain, a climber and self-promoter, who carried the bags of generals and put himself in the right places at the right time with the right patrons; and having married from a careerist perspective, the right wife, a daughter of a four-star general and at the time Superintendent of West Point (How’s that for “All-In” as a West Point cadet?) They also wrote books on warfare (actually edited works of others mostly) before they had ever been in combat or led toops in combat in the types of wars they were writing about; Marshall never did lead troops in combat and Petraeus only in Iraq in 2003.

Also Fair Game:

The multi-million-dollar mansions of the 1% super-rich built in high-earthquake, landslide and wildfire areas sliding down cliffs outside of LA are fair game. The mansions built near the ocean and that wall-off the commons of the beaches for the private use of the super-rich, the gated communities of the super-rich, all the insulated preserves of the rich that get wiped out by hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, fires and tidal waves are fair game. Hurricanes taking out mansions and yachts sinking are all fair game.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRMam0P52iQ&w=853&h=480]

Since these types value their property, along with the ego-rushes that come with continual accumulation of capital and property, over human beings, there must be some outlet like this blog, or perhaps a vido company called “Schadenfreude Videos” to serve the potential pleasure for those human beings they care nothing about, being able to see and savor seeing the super-rich, super-vain, super-arrogant, super-callous, and super-criminal in some cases, lose what they clearly care most about other than their skins–their property.

80 FOOT YACHT BURNS AND SINKS OFF THE FLORIDA COAST

The homophobic evangelists who get caught with homosexual lovers and escorts who are being paid with monies from the Church offerings, and in drugs like meth, are fair game. High officials of major Churches like the Catholic Church or the Mormon Cult who preach family values while hiding child abuse within their organizations and associations are fair game. Rich movie stars wrecking their expensive toys like airplanes, helicopters, cars, boats and the like are fair game.

Holier-than-thou politicians, religious leaders, cops, football coaches, etc going to jail are fair game. Judges going to jail for abuse of judicial authority, corruption and conflicts-of-interest are fair game. War criminals like Henry Kissinger exposed and brought to justice are fair game.

So here we go with SCHADENFREUDE NUMBER ONE: THE SCANDAL OF DAVID PETRAEUS: LIKE “FTD FLOWERS” AND STDs–“THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING”

“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” Sir Walter Scott.

“Those who seek power are invariably the least fit to hold and to wield it.” Plato

Petraeus: A Legend in His Own Mind and His Dupes

In the case of David Petraeus, a darling of the right-wing, many of whom are super-Christians and Tea Party moralists, many are saying that he should get a pass and even be kept on as CIA Director. According to evolving press accounts in the Washington Post, even Petraeus planned to stay on at CIA and keep all of this covert until told to resign by Director of Intelligence James Clapper to resign immediately.

“But some of his closest advisers who served with him during his last command in Iraq said Monday that Petraeus planned to stay in the job even after he acknowledged the affair to the FBI, hoping the episode would never become public. He resigned last week after being told to do so by Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. on the day President Obama was reelected.

Here is his resignation letter. Please note all that is not mentioned in his list of offenses that led to his resignation; total lack of introspection which is typical for demagogues, psychopaths and malignant narcissists. Notice he cops to “extremely poor judgment” but not one word of “betrayal” not only of his wife, or of the CIA, or of his ideological soul mates, of his patrons who put their own reputations on the line for him, or even the CAUSES he says he believes in.

[hulu id=lhtr_fazjp9a9gaaa2vtmg width=512]

CSPAN Coverage of Broadwell Book Reading

PETRAEUS LETTER TO CIA EMPLOYEES

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as D/CIA. After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours. This afternoon, the President graciously accepted my resignation.

As I depart Langley, I want you to know that it has been the greatest of privileges to have served with you, the officers of our Nation’s Silent Service, a work force that is truly exceptional in every regard. Indeed, you did extraordinary work on a host of critical missions during my time as director, and I am deeply grateful to you for that.

Teddy Roosevelt once observed that life’s greatest gift is the opportunity to work hard at work worth doing. I will always treasure my opportunity to have done that with you and I will always regret the circumstances that brought that work with you to an end.

Thank you for your extraordinary service to our country, and best wishes for continued success in the important endeavors that lie ahead for our country and our Agency.

With admiration and appreciation,

David H. Petraeus

Please see coverage at 4th Media on Why did Petraeus resign and why was the U.S. Ambassador to Libya murdered?

“Obviously, he knew about the relationship for months, he knew about the affair, he was in it, so yes, he was not going to resign,” said Peter Mansoor, a retired Army colonel and Petraeus’s executive officer during the Iraq “surge,” who spoke Monday with the former general for about half an hour. “But once he knew it was going to go public, he thought that resigning was the right thing to do. There is no way it would have remained private.”

Some of Petraeus’ supporters have even alleged that Petraeus was set-up to take him out of position to testify about Benghazi events that he went to Tripoli for a first-hand visit to see and inquire about. And the widening investigation now includes Petraeus’ successor who had his own email exchanges it appears with the woman who reported harassment to the FBI, a volunteer with military families who was quite the networker with the powerful in the military herself it would appear:

“The intrigue grew early Tuesday when the Pentagon announced it was investigating between 20,000 and 30,000 pages of “potentially inappropriate” e-mails between Kelley and Gen. John R. Allen, who succeeded Petraeus as the commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.”

Nothing is being said, for example, that Adultery. Fraternization with Subordinates (he outranks Broadwell as she was in the Army Reserves) and Alienation of Affection (Broadwell’s husband and children no one seems to talk about) are offenses under UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) as well as grounds for immediate losses of security clearances (both Petraeus and Broadwell, a U.S. Army Reservist, held SCI, Q and way above clearances). That, perhaps, is why Petraeus says his 8-month affair (changed recently to 10-months) began only after he left the U.S. Army two months after ariving at CIA.

But he was in the Army when he had her listed as part of his “inner-circle” and while an Army Reservist, with very high clearances, Broadwell, acting as a private Journalist” [never having done any journalism] and “biographer” [never having written any previous books or biographies] was taken all over in Petraeus’ personal airplanes, given VIP housing and food, given access that no journalists get, all while she was a Harvard PhD student (now at U of London, why the switch in PhD programs?) and not on military duty or assignment.

We find out now that she was asked to leave the Harvard Program and moved to Kings College at the University of London and then turned her work at Harvard into a book that was leveraged into a six-figure advance based on her connections with Petraeus:

1) “Paula Broadwell was a rising star who seemed destined for a sparkling career in foreign policy. A West Point graduate who excelled in triathlons, she was pursuing a doctorate at Harvard University and had found a mentor in Gen. David H. Petraeus, an iconic U.S. military leader.

2) “But in 2007, Broadwell was asked to leave the doctoral program at Harvard, where she had met Petraeus a year earlier, because her coursework did not meet the university’s demanding standards, according to people familiar with what happened there.”

3) Video: “Among the new information uncovered by the Post’s Greg Jaffe and Anne Gearan, the Petraeus biographer was asked to leave her doctoral program at Harvard and apparently mistated her accomplishments at West Point.”

4) “What Broadwell did next was a signature feature of her resilience and drive — and what detractors say is her tendency to overstate her credentials.

Broadwell eventually leveraged her unfinished dissertation into a best-selling biography of Petraeus, a project that gave her almost unlimited access to the general when he commanded U.S. troops in Afghanistan and later when he was director of the CIA. That access led to the extramarital affair that ¬upended Petraeus’s career and shined a bright light on Broadwell’s.”…

In the summer of 2009, Broadwell told several prominent experts on counterinsurgency warfare that she had been asked by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the newly installed commander in Afghanistan, to assemble a team of first-tier academics and experts to conduct an outside evaluation of McChrystal’s highly anticipated review of his war strategy.

She pressed experts in Washington and Cambridge, Mass., to join the panel and lobbied senior U.S. military officials in Kabul to back her fledgling “red team” effort, military jargon for an outsider evaluation. The prospective team held a couple of meetings, according to one person who was involved.

But senior military officials who were on McChrystal’s staff said Broadwell was not asked to spearhead an evaluation. The officials, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Broadwell and Petraeus, said her attempt to assemble a red-team review panel was rejected after McChrystal’s aides decided that her experience, her connections and her academic credentials were too thin.

“She was trying to pull together something way over her head,” said Mark R. Jacobson, a former deputy NATO senior civilian representative in Afghanistan whom Broadwell approached to serve on the team. Jacobson said he admired Broadwell’s pluck. “It was the kind of move you make in Washington when you are trying to make a name,” he said.

SOME CRITICAL QUESTIONS ABOUT PAULA BROADWELL’S SPECIAL “ACCESS” TO PETRAEUS AND CLASSIFIED MATERIALS:

1. As head of CIA, and thus a HVT (High Value Target) Petraeus had the best security going 24-7. What were they doing when Petraeus and his “biographer” were having their more “in-depth” and penetrating “interview” sessions? Who paid for the venues, meals, drinks, for these sessions and transportation to and from them?

2) Even at the secret level, all clearances apply on need to know. Someone with even a secret clearance, never mind Top Secret, SCI, Q and the like that Broadwell claimed also to have, cannot just access any and all secret level stuff with no operational need to know. There is no “MOS” or Military Occupational Specialty for “Personal Biographer” and being apppointed as “personal biographer” for a 4-star general, by the 4-star general himself, as if he could order up a personal biographer like a personal airplane (see 7 Days in May and the former mistress of the 4-star general in the movie and her comment that she allowed herself to be used by a four-star general like his personal airplane) does not cut it for authorizing use of public resources and classified documents for her “research”.

3. In law premeditation and intent is critial in differentiating crimes and punishments. The more the premeditation, the more the calculated the commission of the crime and deception in cover-up, the longer the period of time over which it as occurred, the worse the crime and punishment. Petraeus and Broadwell with their pathetically amateur “tradecraft” of multiple gmail accounts, under aliases and multiple accounts, and draft files that go out on the net when you type them and not insulatable from the net as they thought, all show protracted deception, protracted and calculated deceit that only stopped when they got caught because one of them thought Petraeus was her property just as he thought she could be used as his. Why is this not mentioned in all of this?

4. Either Petraeus and Broadwell were asked the standard questions of all who hold high level clearances and lied, or they weren’t and thus given special treatment. Those questions not only include drug use, contact with foreigners and intelligence services, but specifically on perjury, extra-marital affairs and especially when on duty, as well with a fellow service member, as this also involves potential corrosive effects on intra-service cohesion, discipline, disparate treatment like special access to classified materials etc. Further, any false statements by a public employee while acting in any official capacity at any time is “Filing a False Report by a Public Employee” and “Misconduct of a Public Empoyee” at a minimum, even if it is to cover an affair, and those are felonies.

5. Have Petraeus’ security clearances been suspended, or actually revoked for admitted cause and if not why not?

THIS CASE CAN ONLY UNRAVEL FURTHER IF ALLOWED AND WILL GIVE MORE FOR THE COMEDIANS FOR SOME TIME TO COME

Someone apparently photoshopped the cover to the book by Broadwell to look like this:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a85V_Sqt8Yo&w=640&h=480]

This is not only because of blackmail potential. For example now that it is out about his adultery, and it is no crime it is argued, why not return him to CIA as he cannot now be blackmailed?. This is about, also, and more importantly, about integrity and honor because if someone cannot be trusted by their most intimate partner and confident, so close in law that conversations are privileged, such as a wife or husband, that person cannot be trusted with national secrets upon which lives depend. And in the case of SAC or Strategic Air Command, along with JSOC, Adultery, any lies while on duty, and even financial problems are grounds for immediate dismissal as that person may not be trusted to carry out orders and deliver even nukes if ordered. That has always been the logic in SAC or Strategic Air Command but then again SAC members are not hired and trained on the basis of their ability to serially lie undetected.

No one is mentioning that this affair was conducted giving “All In” access to Broadwell, who was writing a PR piece for Petraeus and initially a PhD dissertation for herself, along with their sessions of “All In” and penetrating “interviews” of another kind, took place on CIA time, with CIA pay (when is “off” and when is “on” time is another issue in CIA or in military or government service in general) and with public resources. No one is talking about the sense of entitlement that Petraeus continually demonstrated since his time at West Point; starting with hooking up with his wife who was the Superintendent of West Point’s daughter (how did he get that introduction?)

Broadwell talk at University of Denver: Secrets Spilled? Lessons for Networkers and Schmoozers

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFWgHU5Gukg&w=853&h=480]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14EdayZd-RM&w=853&h=480]

The two were clearly using each other. He was using Broadwell as his personal traveling biographer, PR specialist, confident, male-ego-booster and mistress using resources not his, on time not all his, that was not being spent on the troops or his family and wife he praised so profusely for her many sacrifices over 37 years of marriage. Broadwell used Petraeus as a reference, female-ego-booster, source, patron, mentor, stud perhaps, dissertation topic and assistant, and conduit to the higer reaches of power that she sought most of her whole life it appears.

Petraeus’ meteoric rise paralleled that of his hero General George C Marshall, a five-star general, a member of several secret societies and close to members of Skull and Bones, who also turned nothing posts like Fort Vancouver, in Washington State, as Petraeus did with Fort Leavenworth, into avenues to power and to become also a Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. Of course in the highly politicized military in terms of career advancement, what effect of having this four-star general as his father-in-law did for his career is not mentioned either. And no one appears to be talking about the damage to the husband and children of Broadwell or the damage to Petraeus’ own wife and kids. Richard Cohen in the Washington Post argues that Petraeus only “betrayed” his wife not his country and should be returned to CIA.

No one is talking about the fact that Petraeus, by his own account, lobbied for the CIA director job and got it partly to keep him from running for president as a Republican; and partly as a pay-back for taking an essential demotion from CENTCOM Commander back to Stanley Mc Chrystal’s previous position in Afghanistan from which Mc Chrystal was fired for his own granting of access problems; partly as a run-up prize for not getting CJCOS or Chairman of the Joint Chief’s of Staff his long-term goal.

No one is talking about the fact that Broadwell, if guilty of harassment of this other woman who filed a complaint with FBI, held, according to her own public statements, extremely high security clearances (SCI, Q and others she said) that should be immediately removed under standard criteria for loss of clearance today. And the same applies to Petraeus which should also include loss of pension if charged under UCMJ as he could be even if now outside the military. His loss of clearances should be applied in terms of not working for private contractors that require security clearances. But this also shows what types of persons, on the basis of what types of criteria, get high level clearances such as those given to Aldrich Ames oooof CIA and Robert Hanssen of the FBI considered America’s most dangerous traitors and spies. They both had solid “anti-Communist” and ultra-rightist credentials like Petraeus and Broadwell. Hanssen was a member of the proto-fascist cult with the Catholic Church “Opus Dei” and of a church in Vigrinia that four members of the U.S. Supreme Court belonged to.

Petraeus did not come out to confess his sins, he came out to put some spin on serial deception by himself and his “paramour” because he was caught and there was no way out. I mean did he not think that NSA could easily find out his pseudonym email account that he was using to carry on these lurid conversations on email with Broadwell? Did he not think about Clinton and his phone-sex calls with Lewinsky that were picked up by Mossad because no matter how secure the line from the White House, it is only as secure as the outside phone that is being called? In that case, according to “Gideon’s Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad” Clinton was blackmailed in to calling off a mole hunt for a mole code-named “Mega” and was also blackmailed into giving a pardon for fugitive Marc Rich an alleged Mossad asset.

NOT EVEN BASIC TRADECRAFT USED IN THE AFFAIR:

And look at the most basic intelligence tradecraft failures of both Petraeus and Allen with respect to these women Broadwell, Kelly and her twin sister. When I was in the military we had classes about “Elicitation” (how everyday talk about mundane things can also reveal information useful to spies like travel schedules, weather at a particular time and place for a cover etc). I remember a top sergeant telling us that we should all consider ourselves “fucking ugly and fundamentally unattractive to women other than skanks and whores” and therefore if any women approach us, try to hook-up or whatever, it had to be reported immediately because there is always an angle involved. Good-looking women do not go after older powerful men except for proximity to power and none of them would want anything to do with nobodies like us. As Kissinger put it: “Power is the most powerful aphrodesiac”.

It turns out now that Jill and Dr Kelly were on the VIP lists all over the local military establishments next to their mansion that they could lose due to mounting debts they hid from throwing expensive parties to draw-in patrons and the powerful like Petraeus, Allen and a host of other flag officers from all services.

It seems that both Allen and Petraeus even 10 weeks ago signed letters of support on 4-star general stationary, intervening in a child-custody case they clearly knew little about other than the version given to them by Jill Kelly and her twin sister involved in a bitter child-custody case. It seems that the judge in the case, was not impressed with the letters of reference from two 4-star generals, one retired and head of CIA, the other in line for NATO Supreme Commander, and written on official 4-star-general stationary for effect. This in a case where the judge had already ruled so that Petraeus and Allen were arguing against a judge’s ruling they knew little about. And what about the fate of the children if the judge were correct that the twin sister was a psychological basket case and unfit as a mother? Did these generals even care? Obviously not. And do they make other decisions with as little evidence, reason, or concern for the consequences if they are wrong?

And with some 30,000 pages of documents between Mrs Kelly and General Allen in Afghanistan, what was General Allen doing in Afghanistan other than texting and schmoozing with this crew of climbers and networkers and schmoozers? Why is he being returned to duty with so manyh unaswered questions such as “Who arranged for the special access and status of the Kellys at McDill AFB that has been withdrawn from them? Given that a four-star general’s travel itinerary is classified for secruity reasons, was Allen not also sending classifed information in his email exchanges? And what about enrollment in the FBI’s “Citizen Institutes”and special handling by FBI given to Jill Kelly who was and is basically a right-wing groupie as well as trader on influence of her 4-star-general patrons?

Look at the cases of CIA traitor Adrich Ames and FBI traitor Robert Hanssen. In both cases they had high-level security clearances they traded on and committed espionage and treason under. In both cases they approached the Soviets or SVR and were never recruited. In both cases, they were a right-wing anti-Communist’s wet dream. Both from fathers with impeccable anti-Communist credentials; Ames’ father former CIA and Hanssen’s former infamous Chicago Police Red Squad; both appeared to be ultra-right wing and in the case of Hanssen also ultra-religious, a member of the right-wing-cult Opus Dei and a member of the same church in Virginia as (then three now four) of the members of the Supreme Court. But both of them committed treason doing supposed espionage with supposed communists they hated. Why?

The Greek historian Heraclitus noted “Man’s character [or lack of it] is his fate.” Indeed the Greeks were dialectical in their thinking and understood the concept of “The negation of the negation.” They wrote endlessly about, and named gods to reflect, how the mighty fall as a result of the very emotions and qualities that made them the mighty: hubris; deceit; pride; lust; war; envy; greed; narcissism; megalomania; and others that are involved in this story and others to be brought to this blog or sub-blog.

So here we go with General Petraeus and each Number or Story will be updated with new uplifting Schadenfreude related to the particular story as in the case of this Inaugural Story of the Rise and Fall of David C Petraeus. It appears to me that Petraeus is only sorry he got caught and in his “apology” and resignation letter, not one mention of the husband of Mrs Broadwell, and their children that I take it he also met at some time while he was diddling the guys’ wife pretending to be holier-than-thou and at a OCD-level of fixation with the imperfections of others under his command.

Even their covert tradecraft was lacking in attempts to avoid discovery and exposure (what they appear really sorry about):

In examining her e-mail account, investigators found messages from Petraeus of a highly personal nature. The FBI suspected the communications were being sent by someone who had hacked into the CIA director’s personal account.

The mistake apparently came in part from steps Petraeus and Broadwell took to conceal their relationship. According to the Associated Press, instead of sending e-mails to each other’s accounts, the two composed the messages and then left them in a “draft” folder where they could be accessed with a shared user name and password. The method, often used by terrorists, makes it harder to trace e-mail traffic. But in this case, it may also have fueled law enforcement concerns that a hacker was accessing the accounts.

“A person close to Kelley said that investigators have found Broadwell had at least four e-mail accounts under aliases, including “KelleyPatrol,” “Tampa,” and the name of another U.S. city. Broadwell avoided using her home computer, sending the messages from cybercafes and other public locations, according to the person close to Kelley and U.S. law enforcement officials.”

This itself shows how lame their tradecraft. In the old days pre-internet-email over the net but rather with internal proprietary email software like Outlook, that one could draft isolated from the net and then link to the net and send what has been composed or not, one could, and spies and others, did use this trick of two phony email accounts tapping into a third account with both knowing the password and leaving only messages in draft to be read and deleted. But now, even in draft, all emails are sent out on the net was they are typed or drafted, on servers somewhere, perhaps kept in draft files on clouds or the like, but are accessible as they are drafted. Blackberry still has an internal and proprietary service separable from the wider internet which could be why some still use it.

But we go back to the question of duration, premeditation, calculation and multiple venues used in ongoing conduct of and cover-up of the covert affair that would still be going on if Broadwell had not assumed Petraeus was “her man” and thus “her property” as as Petraeus assumed she was “his property” to be ordered up and used like his personal airplane. Again, in law premeditation and intent is critical in differentiating crimes and punishments. The more the premeditation, the more the calculated the commission of the crime and deception in cover-up, the longer the period of time over which it as occurred, the worse the crime and punishment.

There is emerging evidence of even more widening and deepening of exposures in this case. For example the FBI Agent to whom Mrs. Kelly went for help to find the source of the harassing emails was alleged to have sent pictures of himself shirtless to Mrs Kelly and perhaps had his own thoughts about her and decided to push the case that he was later allegedly told to back off on. As the Washington Post notes:

In late summer, the FBI informed senior Justice Department officials about the case. A department spokeswoman, Tracy Schmaler, declined to say when Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. was informed.

But what was the relationship between this shirtless FBI agent, the FBI and Jill Kelly and how did it develop? According to John Miller, former Deputy Director of FBI and a consultant to CBS news, Jill Kelly attended an FBI “Citizens’ Academy” where selected citizens, all right-wing and pro-national security state, “community leaders” they say they want, are brought into a kind of academy to learn what FBI does so they can go out to their communities and promote FBI and its agenda. How do they select and vet people for this Citizens Academy? What are the motives of those who apply to study at this academy? What quid pro quos are being exchanged?

After reviewing the investigation, federal prosecutors decided there was no evidence that warranted charges against Broadwell or Petraeus. The senior law enforcement official said Monday night that the case remains open.

Broadwell was interviewed the week of Oct. 21, and Petraeus was interviewed on Oct. 29. During his interview, he was told that he would not be charged and the FBI did not suggest that he resign, law enforcement officials said.

What remains unclear is why, after it was decided that criminal charges would not be filed, the FBI informed Clapper about the investigation. Another question is why the notification was made on Election Day about a case the Justice Department had declined to pursue weeks earlier.

At some point during the summer, the Tampa FBI agent whom Kelley had first approached for help was taken off the investigation. Frustrated and concerned that an inquiry into what he thought may be a possible national security breach had not progressed, he got in touch with the office of Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.). Reichert passed the information on to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

“I was contacted by an F.B.I. employee concerned that sensitive, classified information may have been compromised and made certain Director Mueller was aware of these serious allegations and the potential risk to our national security,” Cantor said in a statement.

Cantor contacted FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III on Oct. 31, and a week later Clapper told Petraeus he needed to resign.

“I don’t know if it would have taken this course without Cantor,” a person close to the inquiry said.”

Karen DeYoung, Carol D. Leonnig, Julie Tate and Greg Miller contributed to this report.

No potential crimes found? Really? What about misuse and misappropriation of government resources? What about access to highly classified areas in which Petraeus was working along with access to all sorts of classified conversations foreground and background? What about dereliction of duty while in combat areas where there is no time off for providing relative luxury travel, security, digs and bonking for your mistress not on active duty? Does “embedding” of journalists include being “in-bed” to do the interviews?

And here is a big one: How about the box? How about the fact that all CIA employees face on-demand as well as scheduled polygraph sessions that do ask if you have had or are having an affair. Have you done or are you doing any controlled substances or medications not prescribed and not yet known to the Agency? Have you had any contact with foreign nationals and/or members of foreign governments or intelligence services?

And the issue used to be not just blackmail potential. The issue is integrity and walking one’s talk when no one is looking and when one is not likely to get caught as both Petraeus and his mistress took measures and tradecraft to avoid.

Petraeus (News and Background Comments by Those Who Know Him)

Former aides wonder: Did Petraeus stumble in unfamiliar terrain?

“In Iraq, General Petraeus was adamant that he didn’t want reporters embedded within his headquarters in any way,” said retired Col. Peter Mansoor, who served as Petraeus’s executive officer. “What troubles me is why he decided to change his own guidance and allow her unfettered and lengthy access.”

“One of the inevitable questions following Petraeus’s fall was whether his fame, his ego and the sometimes fawning treatment from the media and politicians led to his affair with Broadwell, who was 20 years his junior.”

“Over the years I knew him, he became increasingly fixated on his image,” said one U.S. official who worked with Petraeus in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

“His military career had defined his life since his days as a West Point cadet and his marriage to his wife, Holly, the daughter of a general. In public, he seemed to miss the comfort and confidence that his uniform provided.”

“He recently showed up to speak at a dinner in Washington wearing a row of military medals on the lapel of his suit jacket. The brass prompted a few double takes from a crowd in which only uniformed military men had donned their medals.”

Former defense secretary Robert M. Gates, a CIA veteran, had advised Petraeus not to bring his entourage of former military officers to the agency. The former general showed up for his first day at the agency alone.

At the CIA, Petraeus still retained a big staff and the perks of high office, including a staffer to accompany him on his morning runs when traveling and a standing order to ensure he had fresh, sliced pineapple on the road before he turned in for bed.

Precisely what happened next, when this mentor-protégé relationship turned into something else, is not clear. Many of Petraeus’ associates in Kabul, Afghanistan, wondered at the time if something was going on. Petraeus got along famously well with writers and journalists; he cultivated their trust, in part because he liked talking with them, in part because he saw press relations as a key ingredient of “information operations”—a classic military technique to shape the message of a campaign to civilian populations, both in the war zone and on the home front. (I was one of those reporters.)

But Broadwell was allowed unusually close access. She was given a room at headquarters. On most early mornings, the two went on 5-mile runs together. Some, including myself, reasoned that this didn’t necessarily imply anything hair-raising: Petraeus went on 5-mile runs with lots of reporters and other visitors. Still, at least one of his assistants warned him to be wary of “appearances.”

Two other things about Broadwell that made her different from his usual crop of acolytes: She was very attractive, and, by all accounts, she went a bit ga-ga for the general. Her biography, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, is essentially a valentine to the man. In the process of courting him while writing it, she may have made herself irresistible.

From The Daily Beast and Newsweek

General David Petraeus’s Rules for LivingNov 5, 2012 1:00 AM EST

Lessons on leadership from General David Petraeus.

Pete Marovich / ZUMA Press

1. Lead by example from the front of the formation. Take your performance personally—if you are proud to be average, so too will be your troops.

2. A leader must provide a vision—clear and achievable “big ideas” combined in a strategic concept—and communicate those ideas throughout the entire organization and to all other stakeholders.

3. A leader needs to give energy; don’t be an oxygen thief.

4. There is an exception to every rule, standard operating procedure, and poli¬cy; it is up to leaders to determine when exceptions should be made and to ex¬plain why they made them.

5. We all will make mistakes. The key is to recognize them and admit them, to learn from them, and to take off the rear¬ view mirrors—drive on and avoid making them again.

6. Be humble. The people you’ll be lead¬ing already have on-the-ground conflict experience. “Listen and learn.”

7. Be a team player. “Your team’s triumphs and failures will, obviously, be yours.” Take ownership of both.

8. Don’t rely on rank. If you rely on rank, rather than on the persuasiveness of your logic, the problem could be you and either your thinking or your com¬munication skills. Likewise, sometimes the best ideas come from bottom-up information sharing (i.e., “Need to share” not “Need to know”). Use “direct¬ed telescopes” to improve situational awareness.

9. Leaders should be thoughtful but decisive. Listen to subordinates’ input, evaluate courses of action and second- and third-order effects, but be OK with an “80 per¬cent solution.” “There will be many moments when all eyes turn to you for a decision. Be prepared for them. Don’t shrink from them. Embrace them.” Some¬times the best move is the bold move.

10. Stay fit to fight. Your body is your ultimate weapons system. Physical fitness for your body is essential for mental fitness.

11. The only thing better than a little com¬petition is a lot of competition. Set challenges for your subordinates to encourage them to excel.

12. Everyone on the team is mission critical. Instill in your team members a sense of great self-worth—that each, at any given time, can be the most important on the battlefield.

From Saturday Night Live Nov 10, 2012

From the Washington Post Nov 11, 2012

From the Stratfor Files:

Email-ID 90306
Date 2010-02-05 22:14:51
From aaron.colvin@stratfor.com
To analysts@stratfor.com
List-Name analysts@stratfor.com

On the money angle, it’s a perfect example of how opportunistic the tribes and players are in Yemen. Great stuff.

Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 5, 2010, at 2:41 PM, Michael Wilson
wrote:

PUBLICATION: background/analysis
ATTRIBUTION: STRATFOR source
SOURCE DESCRIPTION: Yemeni diplomat based in DC
SOURCE RELIABILITY: B
ITEM CREDIBILITY: 2
SUGGESTED DISTRIBUTION: analysts
SOURCE HANDLER: Reva
.
This was a bit of a hectic, late night mtg so I didn’t get a focused discussion. King Fahd’s youngest son, Prince AbdelAziz was in town and challenged everyone to a champagne bottle drinking contest. He’s a total goof-off. I have a more serious mtg scheduled with the Yemeni diplomat for next wk.

Source just came back from Yemen last week. Seems like they are making decent progress against AQAP and the Houthis. You know that song, moneymoneymoneymoney moonaaaay, monaaaay? well, that’s yemen right now.

The Saudis are pouring cash in to buy off militants, defectors, etc. through the tribes and it’s working. Source claims that AQAP is heavily infiltrated because of this. And their concerns over OpSec show. It’s just become a huge money-making business now. That’s why the Houthis want to negotiate directly with Saudi, and not through Sanaa and why Sanaa wants to be the mediator. They know whoever deals with the Saudis, gets money as part of the deal. Everybody wants a cut.

An example on the money angle — this one commander tells the Saudis give me 40,000 riyals, I’ll make the Houthis come down from XXXX (i’m forgetting the name of this hilltop right now). The commander takes the money, hands out 10,000 Riyals, keeps the rest for himself and they all come down. Because of deals like this Abdel Malik al Houthi doesn’t have control over the entire Houthi insurgency., just sub-factions here and there.

Yes, the Houthis were able to seriously raise their profile and embarrass Sanaa and Riyadh, but they’re pretty beaten down right now. The towns are all bulldozed. THey have nowhere to go. Just hiding out on hilltops right now.

The delay in the release of Echo is because the Yemenis got the intel to bomb their ‘computer’ labs in Arhab.

The Saudis and Americans aren’t giving any attention to the rehab proposals. Yemen has been asking them for support, but they’re not interested in that initiative right now. Nothing’s being done on it. What the Yemenis really want are more helos, which the US isn’t giving them. US says they already have enough transport and firepower, but is also blocking the Yemenis from striking any deals with the Russians, Chinese, etc to get them.

The Yemeni CT units are slowly (well, trying) to come up to speed. There’s a body that was created about a year ago, called the OSSF – office of strategic security forces or something like that. It’s 100,000 strong, trained by Jordanian and US intel, NSA. There’s a change in attitude by Sanaa on the CT front. Whereas before, the US would provide the coordinates on a target and the Yemenis would stall and stall, now they’re ready to take them out.

Whenever the source met with Saleh, Saleh was completely obsessed with the Houthi rebellion. THat’s at the top of the list of his priorities. he wants to end this for good.

Petraeus has become BFF with the Yemeni ambassador here. Dinners every other week at the amb’s house. Last time he came with this woman, not his wife. The Yemenis think she was his mistress, but i seriously doubt that he’d be that stupid considering how high profile he is. You can see Petraeus taking a much deeper interest in Yemen these days though.

Petraeus (after he drinks a few) says privately there is an Iranian link in Yemen, but it is not yet critical.

Didn’t get much of a chance to go into any depth on the southerners and al Fadhli, but i will next wk.
–
Michael Wilson
Watchofficer
STRATFOR
michael.wilson@stratfor.com
(512) 744 4300 ex. 4112