CIA Director David Petraeus resigns

CIA Director David Petraeus has submitted his resignation to President Obama, citing an extramarital affair.

In a statement sent to the CIA workforce today, Petraeus said he went to the White House Thursday to ask the president to accept his resignation. The president accepted his resignation today.

"After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair," Petraeus said in the letter to the CIA workforce. "Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours."

Petraeus took over as director of the CIA in September 2011. An extramarital affair could have serious implications in the intelligence agency, given that it could potentially lead to security leaks.

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CIA Director David Petraeus resigns

A White House official told CBS News' Nancy Cordes that the White House did not know before the election that Petraeus would resign and that the news comes as a surprise to everyone.

In a statement, Mr. Obama said he is "completely confident that the CIA will continue to thrive and carry out its essential mission," adding that he has the "utmost confidence" in Acting Director Michael Morell and the CIA workforce. The White House has had high praise for Morell, who may be in line to replace Petraeus.

The president said his "thoughts and prayers" are with Petraeus and his wife Holly Petraeus, and he praised Petraeus for his long history of serving the nation.

"By any measure, he was one of the outstanding General officers of his generation, helping our military adapt to new challenges, and leading our men and women in uniform through a remarkable period of service in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he helped our nation put those wars on a path to a responsible end," Mr. Obama said. "As Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, he has continued to serve with characteristic intellectual rigor, dedication, and patriotism. By any measure, through his lifetime of service David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger."

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[littleloiee]

To err is human to forgive is divine. Did anyone ever give a thought to how lonely David Petraeus must have been and has noone ever made a mistake in judgement??? To lose such a valuable human being over this is not at all sensible. The French would never do this. Mind you I am not condoning this behavior but understand how it could have happened.

[GourmetSanFrontieres]

Even a paragon of virtue can make an error of judgment in a moment of weakness. At least former DCI Petraeus did not have an affair with a man or underage woman. Women are always attracted topowerful men. C'est l'amour...Dr. Michael Lim is The Travelling GourmetTM

[littleloiee]

You are right on and I agree with you.

[allrightallreadym]

The FBI is monitoring Patraeus and not telling James Clapper (Director of National Intelligence)? That the President did not know of Patraeus affair BEFORE until after the election? That is what CBS believes?

And if the FBI WAS telling Clapper, CBS believes Clapper did not tell the President?

And why would CBS Obama Sycophants want to pretend to believe such nonsense? The answer is embedded in the question. Obama Sycophants.

Are we simpletons suppose to believe all this?

Of course, us simpletons are suppose to believe that Tiger Woods was "carrying on with 1001 women" and ABC, NBC, and CBS somehow managed to "have no idea."

Why would the networks do this? The networks probably had a financial interest in "preserving and promoting" some "phoney as hell" All-American Boy Image so that Tiger Woods' advertisements could command maximum advertising revenue.

[littleloiee]

What a cynic!!!!

[pepsopine]

Think about this one for a minute.

The risk in Patraeus, as CIA Director, having an affair was the potential for blackmail by hostile groups. Once he resigned, that risk was gone, since his had no power any longer to abuse for the benefit of the blackmailer.

So why would he go public with the reason for his resignation? He could simply have said it was for personal and family reasons. The only benefit he could gain from releasing the humiliating nature of his indiscretion (which also hurts his valued family much more than a dignified silence) is to stop on-going blackmail from somewhere.

Since outside groups have nothing to gain from on-going blackmail of a now retired official, the only possible threat has to be from inside the administration. They are the only ones with anything to gain from blackmail once Patraeus resigned... they are the only ones who could be blocked by a voluntary disclosure of this information by Patraeus.

Couple that with the inexplicable lying to Congress after Benghazi, and you wonder what compelled a man with an impeccable record to so sully his honor and legacy. He would only do so if there were significant pressure brought against him by someone with a lot to gain (or protect) by him lying.

By voluntarily releasing to the public the very worst that could be said against him, Patraeus is now beyond blackmail, even from internal sources. His testimony -- which will ultimately be compelled if necessary -- should prove very interesting indeed.

[pepsopine]

*he, not 'his'

[MuttenJeff]

Let's see. A CIA director admits to and resigns for infidelity over concerns of security leaks,and a past president denies he had sex, and stays in office for the good of the country?
I predict the next rat leaving the sinking Obama boat will have a glovebox full of overdue parking tickets.

[dorismarina]

IT IS SAD TO SEE THIS COUNTRY GOING DOWN, IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN LIKE THE ROMANS THEY USED TO BE THE POWERFUL AND RICH COUNTRY AND LOOK NOW ! WE FIGHTING BETWEEN US BUT WE LET THE GOVERNMENT DO WHAT EVER THEY WANT, PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE THAT SOCIAL SECURITY IN 10 YEARS IS GOING TO BE GONE, THAT ALL THE MONEY THAT WE GIVE TO SOCIAL SECURITY IS LONG GONE! WE NEED TO START THINKING HOW TO SAVE MONEY AND HAVE A SECOND SOUGHT ABOUT HOW WE SPEND THE MONEY, THE DOLLAR IS GOING TO DISAPPEAR AT LEAST IN 15 YEARS, IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN BETTER TELL THEM START LEARNING OTHERS LANGUAGES AND TRY TO IMMIGRATE TO ANOTHER COUNTRY, HERE IS GOING TO BE A LOT PROFESSIONALS AND NOT JOBS, I'M NOT KIDDING THIS WILL HAPPEN, PEOPLE WHO HAS 2 NATIONALITY THEY CAN GO TO THEIRS PARENTS LAND, BUT OTHERS HAS TO ENDURE THE HARD TIMES TO COME.
THE RICH ARE TAKING OUT THE MONEY AND INVESTING IN OTHER COUNTRY, IF YOU SEE WHERE THEY LIVE YOU WILL FIND THAT MOST OF THEM ARE LIVING IN EUROPA NOT HERE, A LOT OF TIMES YOU SEE HOUSES IN BEVERLY HILLS ONLY WITH THE MAIDS AND BUTLER WHY BECAUSE THE OWNER LIVING OUT THE COUNTRY, THEY LAUNDRY MONEY IN THE CAIMAN ISLAND, THEY PRETEND TO BE HELPING THE 3RD WORLD COUNTRIES THEY SEND THE MONEY SPEND A LITTLE BE THERE AND THE REST OF THE MONEY IN FOREIGN BANKS, DIFFERENT KIND OF MAFIA OWN THIS COUNTRY, ALL THE SOUTH ARABIA PEOPLE HAS INVESTED A LOT IN THIS COUNTRY AND NOW THEY HAVE MORE POWER HERE THAN EVER, HORSES, HOTELS, CASINO,TELEVISION, CABLE NETWORKS, IF YOU NOTICE MOST OF THE GAS-STATION BELONG TO THE HINDU PEOPLE IN CALIFORNIA, UTAH, OREGON, CHICAGO, ALSO MacDonald,Burger King MOST OF FRANCHISE COMPANIES BELONG PEOPLE EXCEPT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, YOU SEE THE EMPLOYEES YES THEY'RE AMERICAN BUT THE OWNERS NOT.
YOU ARE GOING TO THINK THAT I'M STUPID TO THINK THIS BUT IT'S REALITY

[cyb0rg316]

You know, I think your Caps Lock is stuck. And it's quite annoying too.

[Mr. Salty]

The first sign of a doomed society is a stuck caps lock key.

[ellen1956]

So now we see who will be the Obama administration scapegoat for Benghazi. They will help Obama and Biden and Clinton and Rice avoid all blame by laying all on Petreus. I just wonder if anyone has checked his bank accounts to see if Soros has provided him with a retirement nestegg. This is just more slimy smoke and mirrors from a president who allowed four Americans to die in Benghazi as he watched in real time.

[aintfakin]

all you right wingers think the Christopher death was premeditated....by Petraeus?
Obama gave the attack order to the terrorists?
Your desperation to find some kind of fault here is hypocrisy beyond belief. Why wasn't Bush/Cheney impeached and prosecuted for starting a trillion dollar war with lies and stealing a large share of that money and killing 4500 of our soldiers for absolutely nothing. That was a cognitive and premeditated action which in large blew up the budget crisis and put us into extreme debt to china.

[aintfakin]

7luckyseven-- replies:
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Aintfakin,
Wasn't that $40 million just stimulus spending? You should be all for this. It plays exactly into what your mama Obama loves to promote.
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who else did stimulate besides the tabloids, ken and maybe a couple of his clerks?
apples and oranges are the right wing debate strategy..........probably because they are all fruits

[aintfakin]

all you right wing spastic attackers crack me up.
Now you are stabbing in the back your hero of the Iraq war "surge"
no wonder Robmee was your nominee. Everyone of you will say anything

[StellarBlue1]

Don't worry about the Right Wing too much anymore. Their run as a political party is pretty much about over. Demographically, the numbers (of minorities) no longer favor the Republicans. For too long they held on to things like no freedom of choice for women, no rights or legal benefits for gays and lets not even get onto stem cell research debacle. I could go on and on about the all the miserable bastards the constitue the bulk of the conservative right. The Republicans USED to be the party of Abraham Lincoln. How much farther out of touch can the Right wing get?