Petraeus: Will We Ever Know the Truth?

This morning I was watching MSNBC's "Morning Joe" while I was waking up. The anchors spent 15 minutes speculating on Four-Star General David Petraeus's extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. While I am aware of the fact that there are new accounts of timelines of the investigation coming out today, why on earth should we be so arrogant to think that we know the "facts?" This is a case that involves both the CIA and the FBI. How is it possible that these pundits think that they are privy to the actual happenings in this case?

The CIA and FBI are insanely good at keeping whatever information they want to keep private to themselves. If they actually did know about this affair during the summer, I'm sure there is a good reason that they didn't bring it to light. Or maybe there was a bad reason they didn't expose it. Regardless, if they kept this secret for almost six months, they had time to decide how much they're going to share with the media. I'm sure that our intelligence agencies knew this would come to light at some point (affairs like this one have a nasty habit of doing that), so they had time to choose what they were going to tell us.

So far, we, the public, have found out that the affair didn't start until after Petraeus was out of the military. Is it possible that the affair started while Petraeus was still in the military during one of the six trips his biographer made to Afghanistan to work with him? Sure, but Petraeus could face a military trial for adultery if that were the case. That would be incredibly embarrassing for not only the four-star general, but the U.S. military. Is that something the CIA and FBI would have the ability of covering up? Of course.

Some of you might think that I'm being incredibly cynical. I think being cautious is justified. The U.S. doesn't say that we have the best intelligence in the world for nothing; we do. The members of the CIA and FBI are astoundingly good at their jobs and there is no reason for us to think that we are ever going to get the full story of this affair. Petraeus might come out with a "tell all" statement, but he was the director of the CIA. Why on earth should we trust him? He was a professional spy. His job was to be good at covering up the truth and leading people to believe what he needed them to believe.

While I trust the CIA and FBI to keep our country safe, I don't trust them to keep a strict moral code. The people involved in these two agencies are professional spies. I am not going to put my trust in these people on an ethical level when they are asked to lie on a daily basis. Do I want them on my side when it comes to finding terrorists? Absolutely. Do I want them on my side when they're running an undercover op to derail a plot that could compromise our county's security? Yes, I do. But would I marry someone who worked for a U.S. intelligence agency? Not a chance.

Photo credit: Adam Creech, 2012

So, I understand that this is news and it's going to be discussed. But let's all just take a step back, look at the big picture, and realize that we will probably never know the whole truth. I think the one fact we do know is that there are two spouses who are hurting right now because of the actions of Gen. Petraeus and Mrs. Broadwell. Let's keep them and the children of these two reckless people in our thoughts.

Happy Veteran's Day! Thank you to all the men and women who serve and have served our country. Your sacrifices will not be forgotten.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi