General Petraeus resigns amid affair scandal

[pawnman]

If I had to guess, this will either go nowhere, or not result in a conviction. All you need to know is the last line: "All the while, he remained a trusted adviser to Mr. Obama..."

[Magellan]

If I had to guess, this will either go nowhere, or not result in a conviction. All you need to know is the last line: "All the while, he remained a trusted adviser to Mr. Obama..."

Most likely Petraeus, Holder, and Lerner will all be on the pardon list as Obama leaves office. Just my guess.

[HeloDude]

Most likely Petraeus, Holder, and Lerner will all be on the pardon list as Obama leaves office. Just my guess.

Then why is Obama's DOJ going after Patraeus? If he is just going to pardon him then it seems silly to bring him up on charges, especially if could potentially make the administration look bad. Personally I think this is bad politics/optics, but if he allegedly committed a serious crime, then bring him to trial and see how it plays out. I do like that Patraeus has hinted/said that he doesn't want a plea deal.

...funny, we still haven't gotten official word on the Bergdahl story, and that investigation/report has been completed for several months.

[Disregard]

...funny, we still haven't gotten official word on the Bergdahl story, and that investigation/report has been completed for several months.

Aren't we still waiting on the Metzger report?

[HeloDude]

Aren't we still waiting on the Metzger report?

Agreed. However the big difference being that outside of just some in the military/military watch-dogs, the American public is cluess/doesn't care about Metzger. Her ordeal didn't make national headlines, didn't have the President on the WH lawn with her patents when she returned, didn't have a Congressional hearing which also gained national attention, and most importantly didn't involve the trading of 5 enemy Taliban.

Bergdahl's situation involved all of the above. So I agree with you about Metzger, Bergdahl has gained a lot of national attention and Congressional inquirees...and we still don't know exactly what happened in terms of the official report. My guess is that it will eventually be released when the 2016 nomination process heats up...this way it won't gain as much traction in the news media. Bergdahl will probably be given an other than honorable discharge, will never see the inside of an American military prison cell, and that will be the end of it. He would face a harsher punishment if he told a sexual joke at the workplace.

[fou]

Sharyl Attkisson, a former CBS investigative journalist and author of Stonewalled, wrote in her book about Petraeus, which could bring a different perspective on why the federal government might bring up felony charges.

https://sharylattkisson.com/the-u-s-govt-vs-gen-david-petraeus/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SharylAttkisson+%28Sharyl+Attkisson%29

[Clayton Bigsby]

I think it's pretty clear that the White House saw Petraeus as a potential adversary to President Obama during the re-election campaign and did the right investigating that took him down. Sad that he lacked the self-discipline to resist the feminine wiles of Maj Paula McFunbags.

[Dupe]

I personally feel that government members who release classified documents to the press should be ruthlessly flogged.

[HU&W]

Bergdahl will probably be given an other than honorable discharge, will never see the inside of an American military prison cell, and that will be the end of it. He would face a harsher punishment if he told a sexual joke at the workplace.

I would argue that he's been punished more effectively for his choices already than most people would experience for a joke told in bad taste.

[HeloDude]

I would argue that he's been punished more effectively for his choices already than most people would experience for a joke told in bad taste.

He has not been punished by the US Army...at least not that I'm aware of. He just had to ordeal a pretty shitty situation because of his own actions (assuming you believe that he voluntary left his post). This is like saying if airman snuffy drinks and drives and wraps his car around a tree, is in the hospital for a couple days with some broken bones, and has to incur legal costs/fines with the local judicial system that the Air Force should just overlook it and not reprimand him because 'he has been punished enough'.

[pawnman]

Agreed. However the big difference being that outside of just some in the military/military watch-dogs, the American public is cluess/doesn't care about Metzger. Her ordeal didn't make national headlines, didn't have the President on the WH lawn with her patents when she returned, didn't have a Congressional hearing which also gained national attention, and most importantly didn't involve the trading of 5 enemy Taliban.

Bergdahl's situation involved all of the above. So I agree with you about Metzger, Bergdahl has gained a lot of national attention and Congressional inquirees...and we still don't know exactly what happened in terms of the official report. My guess is that it will eventually be released when the 2016 nomination process heats up...this way it won't gain as much traction in the news media. Bergdahl will probably be given an other than honorable discharge, will never see the inside of an American military prison cell, and that will be the end of it. He would face a harsher punishment if he told a sexual joke at the workplace.

I don't know that we usually sentence people to five years with the Taliban for sexual harassment.

[HU&W]

He has not been punished by the US Army...at least not that I'm aware of. He just had to ordeal a pretty shitty situation because of his own actions (assuming you believe that he voluntary left his post). This is like saying if airman snuffy drinks and drives and wraps his car around a tree, is in the hospital for a couple days with some broken bones, and has to incur legal costs/fines with the local judicial system that the Air Force should just overlook it and not reprimand him because 'he has been punished enough'.

Must we always create an artificial consequence to augment the natural consequences of bad decisions? Perhaps he's been (or going to be) disciplined quietly, without a continued media circus. You mentioned an OTH discharge as though it was getting away without punishment, but it is in itself an administrative punishment. The main purposes of discipline are to discourage repeat actions by both the offender and others later considering a similar offense (and occasionally to satisfy the need of revenge for the victims, not really a player in this case). Arguably, the natural consequences of his choice, with their associated media firestorm, served to satisfy those main objectives. Any other administrative discipline is icing on the cake.

[HeloDude]

I don't know that we usually sentence people to five years with the Taliban for sexual harassment.

Since when do we sentence people to 5 years with the Taliban for desertion? Why are you and HU&W referring to his captivity as punishment? His 5 years in captivitity had nothing to do with official punishment from the US Army, rather, it was due to his poor decision making.

As I said before, I don't think he'll receive much official punishment (if at all) from the US Army, hence my point that telling a sexual joke at work would get you more official punishment from the US Army.

[Dupe]

I'd like to see more discussion on the pros/cons of bringing federal charges against a man who was one of the most important/influencial military members of the decade.

[HeloDude]

Must we always create an artificial consequence to augment the natural consequences of bad decisions? Perhaps he's been (or going to be) disciplined quietly, without a continued media circus. You mentioned an OTH discharge as though it was getting away without punishment, but it is in itself an administrative punishment. The main purposes of discipline are to discourage repeat actions by both the offender and others later considering a similar offense (and occasionally to satisfy the need of revenge for the victims, not really a player in this case). Arguably, the natural consequences of his choice, with their associated media firestorm, served to satisfy those main objectives. Any other administrative discipline is icing on the cake.

This is not how military punishment works...there is nothing in the UCMJ/regulations that say 'if the person made a bad decision and received bad consequences from their bad decisions then no military punishment can be given'. Obviously the legal system/discipline/punishment is extremely subjective in the military.

If Berghdahl deserted it (again, I'm still waiting for the report that for some reason has yet to be released) then he deserves to be punished (perhaps via Article 15, if he accepts it?) or it should go to trial where the legal process can determine innocence or guilt and then punish as necessary. Now if the punishment rendered is for him to be knocked down a rank, fined, etc with no jail time then so be it. What I am saying is that I don't believe any of this is going to happen, just my best guess given the optics of the situation.

And do people really believe he didn't voluntarily leave his post and defy orders? If it was clear that he was captured through no fult of his own then I doubt there would be much of a problem with the US Army saying so.

This all has to do with politics, and fortunately for Berghdahl, I think he'll be able to go quietly because of it.