Why/how did he compromise himself. You keep saying that morality isn't the issue but do not offer any other reason why you think Patraeus compromised himself. I am not naive nor am I being obtuse. I am raising the question of why is it we, as a society, believe this to be a "lapse of judgement" or "compromising himself." If it is not public opinion on the morality or more aptly the amorality of the act then what is it. You still don't answer that basic question.
This is the last time.
If you have a high clearance and you work with classified information that I want, I will look for your greatest vulnerabilities. A time old method used to gain information via a spy is to send a
credible paramour. It may take months or years to get the person in place and established, known and maybe even vetted. The lady I send to become involved with you, to become the woman of your dreams, to become your best friend and eventually your confidant is probably not going to look like Whoopie Goldberg or Debbie Wasserman-Schultz with Ramen noodle hair. I'll find an agent who looks and acts like your dreams and ****s like a rabbit. Whatever it takes. Once you take the bait she will become what you want her to become and she will slowly groom you. Once she has your arrogant and horny ass in the rack, she'll set the hook. She'll prove that you can trust her and she will become the woman you will never want to let go. At that point, not necessarily a one night stand, a hit and run, but rather at the moment you begin to make plans to see her, when you deceive people about your whereabouts and about your affair,
you have become compromised. The conditions for you to provide information or access, at this point are most favorable, and they are due to your actions.
At that point you have been compromised because now I have the ability to exploit you, through her.If she works for me and you compromise yourself you pose a threat to national security.
All that crap about Petraus being a great guy and a human who made a mistake is pure caca. It won't hold. Petraeus KNEW that long, long, long ago. Tell Petraeus wife and family that "heh-heh-heh, you know he was just being a man, heh-heh." How do you think that's working out for him? Are you telling us that Petraeus' wife is cool with this?
Let's look at Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Here we have a powerful person who could possibly be blackmailed into providing information and access to someone who wants power and monetary gain. Strauss-Kahn is European, French. In France affairs are probably no more common than they are in the U.S., but they are more "accepted", if you like. Strauss-Kahn has a reputation of being a slut puppy. It would be difficult to set him up for having a bit of strange on the side. I mean, that's what the man apparently does as often as he can. No secret there. But it is certainly a huge weakness to be exploited.
People wanted SK out of the IMF or wanted someone else in. It would be difficult to destroy Strauss-Kahn's image as a dedicated, wife loving homebody. LOL! "They" then decided to use Strauss-Kahn's slut puppy reputation to remove him from the IMF. SK was set up in New York while doing what they knew he would do. They waived house maid snatch in his face and SK jumped at it. The maid, however, claimed rape, after an extortion attempt or as part of the entire trap. SK was forced into a highly publicized media trial and was forced to resign. Mission accomplished.
As part of USAF security at Strategic Air Command HQ, they constantly reminded us that we were closer to going to jail than anyone over security breaches. Because of our duty it was impossible for us not to hear things and see things that we didn't have a need to know. We were never in doubt that if we breached security and shared information we would be in a world of hurt. We didn't even talk to each other about things we had seen or heard. On occasion an event would happen where you were required to sign a form saying that you would not disclose any information under threat of imprisonment and a huge fine.
Access to information comes with huge responsibilities. We were constantly reminded of that. I knew a guy from Hawaii who lost his clearance because they discovered that his father had been born in Japan! And you think the head of the CIA should be given pass for schtupping the hired help. :lamo
The OSI and God knows who else had people in bars, airports, restaurants and wherever who eavesdropped to make certain no one was talking about anything classified. We didn't talk to each other about anything we had not experienced together. You simply didn't do it. When someone said something they shouldn't we'd give him a warning and then we'd put some distance between him and ourselves. The point is security around highly classified information is not taken lightly. It is not something you misunderstand. It is made very clear to you what will get you into deep trouble. No one I ever knew who worked in a high security environment didn't understand clearly what they could and could not do. It was spelled out. Petraeus knew damned well his behavior was beyond the pale.
Petraeus was 10,000 times more vulnerable because of his position and the information he had access to. He well knew the risks and the responsibilities. He fecked up. To his credit, he manned up and admitted it.