The Washington Post reports that last week, President-elect Donald Trump was agonizing over his shortlist of candidates for secretary of state—which included Mitt Romney, Bob Corker, Rudy Giuliani, and David Petraeus. Trump was reportedly unsatisfied with his choices when a new name, that of…
Vice President Joe Biden once triumphantly declared that Iraq would one day be seen as the Obama administration's "greatest achievement." This was back when the plan was to bring all American troops homes. There was some talk of leaving a residual force of 10,000 or so, but this plan was never…
From the Foundation for Constitutional Government:
Over the weekend, the Washington Post’s editorial page editor Fred Hiatt argued that Syria may be “the most surprising of President Obama’s foreign-policy legacies: not just that he presided over a humanitarian and cultural disaster of epochal proportions, but that he soothed the American people…
My colleague Lee Smith has noted that both Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bob Menendez both suddenly found themselves in trouble just as the Obama administration was enduring heightened public scrutiny over their attempt to forge an agreement with Iran, and both may well have been voices of opposition.…
After nearly two days of editing, then CIA director David Petraeus was sent the revised Benghazi talking points on September 15, 2012. He was less than impressed, to put it mildly.
Tampa socialite Jill Kelley, a key figure in the scandal that brought down CIA director Gen. David Petraeus, received the "country’s second-highest honor for a civilian," according to the New York Post. The honor was awarded because of the socialite's “selfless contributions” and “willingness to…
At Forbes.com, Larry Bell offers a nice summary of the unanswered questions surrounding the Benghazi-Patreaus controversy. He asks (and addresses) the following: “Did the White House blackmail General Petraeus to support a cover story?” “When did the President really learn about the Petraeus…
Willy Stern recalls:
Jill Kelly, the Tampa socialite that was instrumental in bringing down CIA director David Petraeus, visited the White House three times over the course of the last year, numerous reports reveal. Kelley's most recent visit was November 4, 2012, two days before President Barack Obama was reelected to…
THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:
David Petraeus is going to tell members of Congress that he "knew almost immediately after the September 11th attack, that the group Ansar al Sharia, the al Qaeda sympathizing group in Libya was responsible for the attacks," CNN reports.
At yesterday’s press conference, Chuck Todd of NBC News asked, “Are you withholding judgment on whether you should have known sooner that there was a potential — that there was an investigation into whether your CIA director — potentially there was a national security breach with your CIA director?…
THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:
ABC's Denver affiliate is coming under fire for accidentally running a phony cover of Paula Broadwell's biography of General David Petraeus. The cover read, All Up In My Snatch. The real book title is All In.
"The FBI probe into the sex scandal that prompted CIA Director David Petraeus to resign has expanded to ensnare Gen. John R. Allen, the commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced early Tuesday," the Washington Post reports.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta seemed not to have extensive knowledge of the Petraeus affair when talking to the press earlier today on board a flight to Australia.
Over the weekend, New Jersey senator Bob Menendez, a Democrat who was just reelected, sat for a Sunday interview with CNN's Candy Crowley. They discussed the Petraeus affair, the looming fiscal cliff, and the clean-up after Hurricane Sandy.
The paperback version of All In, the biography of David Petraeus written by his mistress Paula Broadwell, will be published earlier than planned, according to Shelf Awareness:
The New York Times reports that the Petraeus affair has been known about since the summer:
This morning on NBC's Meet the Press, Andrea Mitchell revealed that the Petraeus affair would not have been public had it not been for a whistleblower who approached Republican House majority leader Eric Cantor.
Here's a letter to the New York Times Magazine's "ethicist," which was published over the summer:
A few thoughts on the resignation of David Petraeus as CIA director: Few American leaders had a stronger reputation for integrity and honor, so the reason he cited for his departure – an extramarital affair – comes as a shock to the nation and to those who know him best.
CIA director David Petraeus's statement of resignation:
What did or didn't the president do on the evening of September 11?
There's an interesting article on Benghazi in the Wall Street Journal, with some useful information, and lots of finger pointing and back-and-forth between the State Department and the CIA, and between Hillary Clinton and David Petraeus. Guess who's nowhere mentioned in the piece: The person who's…
Breaking news on Benghazi: the CIA spokesman, presumably at the direction of CIA director David Petraeus, has put out this statement: "No one at any level in the CIA told anybody not to help those in need; claims to the contrary are simply inaccurate. ”
From the Associated Press:
The New York Times reported last week that President Obama decided not to apologize to Pakistan about the U.S. airstrikes that killed Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border in part because he did not want to be seen to be overruling his military commanders yet again. How ironic that the…
General David Petraeus, at his military retirement ceremony, said "that the nation’s leaders, faced with tough budget decisions, should be careful not to cut the military’s budget too deeply in the years ahead," the Washington Post reports.
Navy Times: "Petraeus shedding military uniform to head CIA"
The Washington Post reports:
Earlier this week, Keep America Safe released the following ad, criticizing President Obama for not taking his military commanders' advice and for prematurely withdrawing from Afghanistan:
Keep America Safe is out today with a new ad, blasting the president for taking "more risk" in Afghanistan than his generals recommended:
New York Times: "Petraeus Confident as He Leaves Afghanistan"
"Senate confirms Petraeus as next CIA director with 94-0 vote"
General Jack Keane, earlier today on Fox News, blasted President Obama for prematurely withdrawing from Afghanistan:
Lieutenant General John Allen told the Senate Armed Services Committee today that the Afghanistan decision President Obama announced last week was not among the range of options the military provided to the commander in chief. Allen’s testimony directly contradicts claims from senior Obama…
The Foreign Policy Initiative has compiled a fact sheet on Afghanistan, detailing problems with President Obama's withdrawal plan:
Karl Rove: "Why Obama Is Likely to Lose in 2012"
General David Petraeus, the current commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said today that President Obama’s decision to withdraw over 30,000 troops from Afghanistan by September 2012 is a “more aggressive” plan than the one on which the president’s military commanders had advised.
The boss blasted President Obama’s plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan a couple minutes ago on Fox News. “Most strikingly,” Bill Kristol said, “was the president's announcement about the September 2012 deadline: cutting the fighting season in half next year and really putting at risk our…
“As a result, starting next month, we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, and we will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer, fully recovering the surge I announced at West Point." — President Barack Obama, June 22, 2011 Why bring home…
THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that President Obama will announce his decision about U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan this week—most likely Tuesday or Wednesday.
Even before the successful raid against Osama bin Laden was announced, news that America’s most admired general, David Petraeus, would take the helm at the CIA while CIA director Leon Panetta would become secretary of defense had induced much discussion about the intertwining of the CIA and…
The Washington Post reports that Ryan Crocker, former ambassador to Iraq, will likely be nominated to be the next ambassador to Afghanistan :
When there’s nothing better to do (and even when there is), folks in Washington gossip about the human parade passing through the world’s most powerful jobs. For years, the departure date and replacement for Defense secretary Robert Gates has been a prime source of speculative entertainment, but…
"Has Ryan’s budget boxed in Obama?"
General David Petraeus testified earlier today at the Senate Armed Services Committee on Afghanistan. The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan sounded optimistic, yet cautious:
The New York Times reports:
Pete Hegseth and Wade Zirkle write in the Wall Street Journal:
A Florida pastor, Terry Jones, has planned to commemorate the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 by burning copies of the Koran. The commanding general of the war in Afghanistan, David Petraeus, however, has warned that Jones's actions will surely lead to incitement and the deaths of Americans…
A failed presidency is a terrible thing to witness. A failed presidency with more than two years left to run is also dangerous for the country. So, even though it would be easy for The Weekly Standard to allow your administration to continue on its current path to perdition, thereby ensuring…
In war, victory belongs to the most persevering. Unfortunately, the endurance and political will to persist through a tough military slog like Afghanistan are precious commodities -- particularly given tough economic times and given complicated military and political objectives. No one would accuse…