Opinion

Big waste

Opinion of, The Naples Daily
Published: November 17, 2012

There is this to be said about Gen. David Petraeus' resignation after 38 years of exceptional service to this country: What a waste. Petraeus was the model of what the modern military is seeking in its top officers: a combination of warrior, leader, diplomat and scholar with a doctorate from Princeton.

Driven to succeed both militarily and intellectually, he became a brigadier general at 46, successfully oversaw the "surge" that allowed us to extricate ourselves from Iraq, moved on to U.S. Central Command and then, at the behest of President Barack Obama, accepted what was effectively a demotion to take over the faltering U.S. effort in Afghanistan.

In September 2011, again at Obama's behest, he returned to Washington to take over the CIA. His resume and careful cultivation of Congress led to speculation of a political future, if not as a presidential candidate then certainly as a running mate.

Sometime after his return, according to emerging accounts, he took up with Paula Broadwell, 40, a West Point graduate and Army reserve officer who had written a glowing biography of Petraeus.

An ordinary politician might have been tempted to ride out a scandal like Petraeus' with the obligatory confessional press conference with the wronged wife standing stoically in the background and a boilerplate plea "to put this incident behind us.

The general and his wife of 38 years, Holly, an advocate for military families, will reach whatever accommodation they can. Petraeus' career in public service is not necessarily over; this country has an unwritten statute of limitations. Bill Clinton has been a senior statesman for years now.