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The Student Voice of UNC Asheville

The Blue Banner

The Student Voice of UNC Asheville

The Blue Banner

CIA director under heat for resigning during instability in Mid East

Questions remain unanswered about drones and attack on U.S. Embassy in Libya

by: Amarra Ghani, Campus Voice Editor
Resignation may not save David Petraeus from answering questions.
Upon admitting to an extramarital affair, Petraeus, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, resigned on Friday in what some may call a shocking discovery made by the FBI.
After his resignation was announced nationally by President Obama, immediate praise for Petraeus’s work to the United States came from the president and leaders from both Democratic and Republican parties. Dedication and patriotism were some of the words used to describe Petraeus’s input in the Middle East.
It is disturbing how desperately America craves gossip. Since Friday, more people know about Petraeus’s existence than they did before, because he was involved in a sexual affair with another woman.
Example of past sex scandals show what Americans will remember of their former leaders.
When Bill Clinton is mentioned, you can be sure to hear Monica Lewinsky’s name followed afterward, but will fail to hear anything about his healthcare plan or foreign policies.
John McCain, U.S. senator, announced Petraeus as one of America’s greatest military heroes for his work in Iraq, Afghanistan and recently, Pakistan.
This grotesque judgment seems to be far into an extreme. Petraeus’s four star credentials come from a pattern of failed attempts to restructure the Middle East. An ineffective Iraqi training program with the U.S. military and deterioration of Afghanistan since he took control. In recent news, Petraeus’ leadership led to the CIA’s heavy involvement in Libya where three Americans were killed, including U.S. Ambassador for Libya, Chris Stevens, and who can forget the constant killing of innocent civilians with the help of drones.
But none of these accounts matter, none of these issues really concern the general public who are grieving the loss of their military hero Petraeus. These facts are not as thought provoking as a sex scandal. Out of all the hideous forms of leadership control the CIA takes, the only thing that made Petraeus news worthy is who he said goodnight to.
It took an affair for Petraeus to give up his position after being CIA director for only 14 months. Media outlets, such as the Chicago Tribune, call him a hero in spite of the scandal, obviously the worst the CIA could have possibly done.
While Petraeus’ sudden departure may have left people heartbroken, it also left people suspicious. His dramatic exit happened right before the CIA was going to be questioned for the their heavy involvement in Libya and the attacks that took place on Sept. 11 that led to the death of Stevens.
The CIA has taken much criticism for providing talking points to the White House and other administration officials that led them to say the Beghazi attack was a result of a film protest, not a military terror attack as reported by The Daily Mail, a conservative British newspaper.
U.S. officials claim the CIA’s handling of the Benghazi incident has nothing to do with Petraeus’s decision to resign.
In an open letter to Obama about his resignation Petraeus wrote, “Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from the position as D/CIA. After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment in engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.”
Though it was admirable of Petraeus to come clean and admit to his mistakes, his conscious cannot be cleared as of yet.
What about the drones?
Drone strikes used in the U.S., once just a futuristic term and only to be used as the last resort, have become routine.
Since 2002, the U.S. had less than 100 predators, or drones. In 2011, drones have clocked in more than a million hours in flying time for the U.S. Air Force, according to the United States Air Force website and that is aside from the CIA’s fleet.
CNN reported the data compiled by the New America Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing in the United States, according to their website.
Human rights have been crossed out of the equation. Not only does the CIA fail to officially recognize their own actions or the drone program, but it does not provide facts on who dies, what happens and what rules are implemented before the drones are released.
Maybe Petraeus should just stick to bombing villages in Pakistan for the sake of employment because his judgment was not skewed then.

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