India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 08 Nov 2012 20:59

Indian-Americans Struggle in U.S. House Races

None of the six Indian-American candidates who stood for election won enough votes to immediately secure a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where Republicans retained control Tuesday.

Only one candidate, Ami Bera, a Democrat from California, is still in the race. He is leading with fewer than 200 votes over his Republican rival, incumbent Dan Lungren. Since the margin is too narrow to call a victory, tens of thousands of provisional and absentee ballots have to be counted – a process that could take days, maybe weeks. Only then will we know who will win this competitive House seat.

“Although we do not know our race’s final results, we feel confident going into the next several days,” Dr. Bera said in a statement Wednesday. “The top priority right now is to make sure that every vote is fairly counted,” he added. Born and raised in California, Dr. Bera’s parents emigrated from India to the U.S. in the 1950s.

If elected, Dr. Bera would become the third Indian-American congressman in the history of U.S. politics. The two Indian-Americans who have previously been elected to Congress, both to House seats, are Bobby Jindal, the current Governor of Louisiana, and Dalip Singh Saund, a native of Punjab who was elected in the late 1950s.

Despite prominent Indian-American politicians like Mr. Jindal and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, both of them Republican, the community is struggling for representation in U.S. national politics. Indian-Americans have had more success running for local and state offices.

The remaining five Indian-American candidates in the latest House elections all lost by wide margins. It was always going to be difficult for the candidates, all of whom were running to capture seats from rival parties. Three of them ran from California, a state that has the largest number of Indian-Americans in the U.S., according to census figures.

Among them was 25-year-old Republican candidate Ricky Gill, who was running for a seat in a hotly-contested California district. He was defeated by Democrat incumbent Jerry McNerney.

The other four Indian American candidates, all of them Democrats, were: Jack Uppal (California), Manan Trivedi (Pennsylvania), Upendra Chivukula (New Jersey) and Syed Taj (Michigan.)

The son of Indian immigrants, Mr. Trivedi, a doctor, joined the U.S. Navy and spent six months in Iraq, overseeing a medical team that took care of troops there.

The other three were born in India, and later became U.S. citizens. Mr. Taj, also a doctor, was raised in one of India’s poorest states, Bihar, where he studied medicine. He emigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s. Mr. Uppal, an engineer, on his website wrote that he “didn’t speak a word of English” when he first moved to the U.S. as a child in the late 1950s and that he “grew up living the American dream.”

Mr. Chivukula, also an engineer, was born in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and raised in Chennai in Tamil Nadu. On his campaign website, he said he lived in a hut with his family and that “there was never enough money to go around.” He moved to the U.S. in the 1970s.

A rising star is Indian-American Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney in New York’s Southern District, who has taken on Wall Street in insider trading. His name has been mentioned as an outside shot for U.S. Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General in President Obama’s reshaped administration.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 09 Nov 2012 01:52

Interesting stuff - may be our politicos in India may be able to apply some of the techniques to drum up votes - at least in urban areas.

Inside the Secret World of the Data Crunchers Who Helped Obama Win

(Does this even go in this thread? Sorry if not).

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 10 Nov 2012 06:00

US explores treaty to nail American tax defaulters in India

The US has said it is working on an intergovernment engagement with India and other countries to check non-compliance by American taxpayers using foreign bank accounts in their jurisdictions.
Through these engagements with more than 50 countries, the US is looking to implement information reporting and withholding tax provisions, commonly known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

khan economy is taking a hit. every dollah is being accounted now. Under severe pressure to get money back from all and sundry.

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 10 Nov 2012 09:37

Tulsi Gabbard shows Bobby Jindal it’s cool to be Hindu

While all five Indian-American candidates hoping to enter the US Congress lost out, 31-year-old Iraq war veteran Tulsi Gabbard created history by being the first Hindu American in Congress. She will take her oath on the Bhagavad Gita.

There could be some resistance from a Congress that is married to tradition. In fact, the last time a Hindu prayer was attempted in Congress, fanatics from Operation Save America/Operation Rescue loudly interrupted it.(shows how mentally and physically free are khanites)
Gabbard defeated K. Crowley of the Republican Party with a solid margin in Hawaii’s second Congressional district. And Crowley was mean-spirited enough to fume that Gabbard’s religion “was incompatible with the Constitution.”

(very graciuos loser indeed!!)
India looks far more decent and better considering the above views

Gabbard retorted to Crowley via The Huffington Post, declaring: “It is stunning that some people in Congress would so arrogantly thumb their nose at the Bill of Rights. When I volunteered to put my life on the line in defense of our country, no one asked me what my religion was.

For a country whose founding principles include religious freedom, the American government has a history of being almost homogenous with respect to religion. For most federal representatives, the question isn’t whether or not you’re Christian but what Christian denomination you follow,” said ABC News.

Gabbard says her faith will be an asset in Congress, where she hopes to work on war veterans’ affairs, environmental issues, and cultivating a closer relationship between US and India.

“It is clear that there needs to be a closer working relationship between the United States and India. How can we have a close relationship if decision-makers in Washington know very little, if anything, about the religious beliefs, values, and practices of India’s 800 million Hindus?” Gabbard told The Huffington Post.

“Hopefully the presence in Congress of an American who happens to be Hindu will increase America’s understanding of India as well as India’s understanding of America.”

(what a refreshing change from that idiot called jindal who is ashamed to call himself Indian)

In a statement released after her victory, Gabbard acknowledged that her election would be an inspiration to Hindus across America who feel diffident about having a different religion.

“On my last trip to the mainland, I met a man who told me that his teenage daughter felt embarrassed about her faith, but after meeting me, she’s no longer feeling that way,” Gabbard said.

“He was so happy that my being elected to Congress would give hope to hundreds and thousands of young Hindus in America, that they can be open about their faith and even run for office, without fear of being discriminated against or attacked because of their religion.”

Clearly, Haley is far more comfortable in her skin and with her Indian origin than more self-conscious Jindal.

(Hope Haley and Jindal get some moral courage from Tulsi)

Good work so far from Tulsi.

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 10 Nov 2012 10:09

CIA director David Petraeus quits over extramarital affair

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 10 Nov 2012 16:23

Diplomatic circles are saying that John Kerry will become the US foreign minister and Chuck Hagel as US def sec. Anyone know anything about the latter?

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 10 Nov 2012 19:01

Any body knows the lowdown on Petraeus, who she was, etc?

I mean, man, if anything shows what rules the mind, here's a classic example...

pentaiah · Post by **pentaiah** » 10 Nov 2012 19:27

JEM sar I posted the running mate details of Gen. petreaus in the nukkad thread yesterday as the news was steaming in

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... start=3400

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 10 Nov 2012 19:38

JE Menon wrote:Any body knows the lowdown on Petraeus, who she was, etc?

I mean, man, if anything shows what rules the mind, here's a classic example...

the one in middle :

The woman with whom Gen. David Petraeus was having an affair is Paula Broadwell, the author of a recent hagiographic book about him, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus.

The biographer for resigning CIA Director David Petraeus is under FBI investigation for improperly trying to access his email and possibly gaining access to classified information, law enforcement officials told NBC News on Friday.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11 ... icials-say

This could be a honey trap but considering that he was supposed to testifying before Congress and now CIA says that he won't be testifying.. people are not buying it.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 10 Nov 2012 20:01

Well, well... the book is appropriately titled: "All In..." Clearly tongue on cheek.

Tx Spin - hadn't checked Nukkad. Will go for it now.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 10 Nov 2012 21:13

shyamd wrote:Diplomatic circles are saying that John Kerry will become the US foreign minister and Chuck Hagel as US def sec. Anyone know anything about the latter?

I have watched and followed Chuck Hagle several times on C-SPAN. He is very erudite and very cerebral, and find it very strange that he is a republican. He has a very god knowledge about the world, i.e., beyond "US interests". But in any case if you take out the superficial veneer, there is not much difference anyway between dems and reps on most issues, especially so on foreign policy and defense (Unless of course you are US media who look for minute differences and exaggerate them to keep their 24 hour news cycle clicking).

I am just trying to recall, but I don't recall him talk about India and Paaaakistaaan. So not sure where he stands on TSP in the spectrum that differentiates US elites that is. I am sure he (and Kerry) will continue drones, push TSP on Haqqanis etc. But not sure about his long term vision. I won't be surprised if its some form of India TSP equal equal given that he is in an official position now.

Chinmayanand · Post by **Chinmayanand** » 10 Nov 2012 22:21

Rony wrote:CIA director David Petraeus quits over extramarital affair

Here is the cause and effect of all in & David out

pentaiah · Post by **pentaiah** » 10 Nov 2012 22:26

You mean
All In her lap? ( remember she was running mate till the last lap)

darshhan · Post by **darshhan** » 10 Nov 2012 23:50

I am sure Gen Petraeus would have pushed it ALL IN.

darshhan · Post by **darshhan** » 11 Nov 2012 00:12

krisna wrote:Tulsi Gabbard shows Bobby Jindal it’s cool to be Hindu
.....

Good work so far from Tulsi.

Krisna ji, Your love for Hinduism is much appreciated. And ofcourse Tulsi Gabbard has to be praised for her courage. After all winning a House seat in US while being a practicing Hindu is not easy.

But I still feel you are being too hard on Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley. Wrt Bobby Jindal, he converted when he was very young and in school(in his teens). It is not that he converted for political benfits until unless he had political goals at such a young age( which seems very unlikely to me). Now you have to understand he was raised in Louisiana where I doubt that anything resembling a Hindu Ecosystem was present( unlike states such as NY or California). Now he is doing a good job though( better than his predecessors atleast ).

As far as Nikki Haley is concerned, she most probably converted after her marriage to a Christian Guy. But this is standard practice amongst Indian women( they start following the religion of their Husbands ). Ofcourse she has milked this Christian identity to gain governorship.

But on the whole I think we can still be proud of their achievements as Indian Origin persons.

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 11 Nov 2012 00:41

darshhan wrote:
Krisna ji, Your love for Hinduism is much appreciated. And ofcourse Tulsi Gabbard has to be praised for her courage. After all winning a House seat in US while being a practicing Hindu is not easy.

Thank you. I am proud to be a SD follower and say it openly.

But I still feel you are being too hard on Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley. Wrt Bobby Jindal, he converted when he was very young and in school(in his teens). It is not that he converted for political benfits until unless he had political goals at such a young age( which seems very unlikely to me). Now you have to understand he was raised in Louisiana where I doubt that anything resembling a Hindu Ecosystem was present( unlike states such as NY or California). Now he is doing a good job though( better than his predecessors atleast ).

As far as Nikki Haley is concerned, she most probably converted after her marriage to a Christian Guy. But this is standard practice amongst Indian women( they start following the religion of their Husbands ). Ofcourse she has milked this Christian identity to gain governorship.

But on the whole I think we can still be proud of their achievements as Indian Origin persons.

wrt Jindal and Haley I dont care whatever religions they wear on their sleeve. But as far as I know jindal much more than Nikki Haley downplays Indian/sdre connection.

wherever you are whatever you are if you dont have the strenght to admit you are a sdre, you are a nobody in my books.
what is so difficult to say you are an Indian born or a SD follower. I dont buy the argument that he was in lousiiana etc etc. hence he disses SD or India.

The big question is why do converts behave like this...... because the christian followers dont like SD. They force the new converts to repudiate it ... etc. you know it. as simple as that. anyway OT here.
I have not come across anyone following SD diss other religions. Huge Huge difference.

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 11 Nov 2012 00:58

The interesting thing is Tulsi is racially Caucasian and not SDRE. She is a convert to Hinduism.
Look at her and look at our own (Jindal and Haley) who have sold their souls for the praise of the gora.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 11 Nov 2012 01:00

DevesJi,

Wrong. As a Hindu Indian, there is nothing to be proud of Jindal puke who runs away from his Indian Hindu identity like dog whose tail is on fire. Ditto Haley. Of course they have not committed any crime in becming loyal Uncle Toms, but we are taking about celebrating their success as part of their (and our) Indian identity. On that count, they are best ignored, but certainly not celebrated.

On this Paula chickie that 1000 star general Patreus donked, I am no psychologist, but despite her maacho body building skills, she looks as vulnerable as a headless chicken is to me. So Patreus could very well have used his aura and might of power to get her go down on her knees and do the needful. Gloria Aldrich type lawyer feminists ought to be looking at this angle. But then again, he is a 500 million star general who defeated the mighty Al Queda in mighty Iraq after killing nah a few 10s of 1000s of Iraqis and destroyed their civilization (what is some collateral damage in Bushy boy doing his duty which according to himself was Jesus Christ's calling) is among the pantheon of demi Gods that Americans worship, "Bipartisanship" as they, and so he will retire to kushy job giving speeches and collecting lots a moolah, and going on vacation with Paula. Bottom line: no Libya or whatever conspiracy here. Just a powerful man overpowering a vulnerable chic, of course with mutual consent.

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 11 Nov 2012 01:04

Looks like General Betray-us got a Lewinsky under his desk.

Operation sex under a desk: The racy emails between CIA chief David Petraeus and his biographer 'mistress' that were found by the FBI and forced him to quit

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 11 Nov 2012 01:29

Looks like Petreaus was asked to resign to avoid embarassment to pentagon and gotus. He knew it, promptly did it.
In military he could have been dishonorably discharged with loss of records in military and retirement benefits.
He also made a lot of friends amongst politicians and pentagon.
Nice way of easing him without much recriminations.
He had the cake and ate it too.

Post resignation, will be a disaster to both the luv birds families.

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 11 Nov 2012 02:50

CRamS garu,

you are addressing the wrong person. I said nothing about Jindal or Haley!

Jindal and Haley represent that instinct within the Indians who were happy to compromise on core values to suit their purpose. in both cases, it seems that the parents did not do much to solidify their Indic identities once they migrated to US. in both cases, it seems the critical "crossover" into the other side happened during high school years. often, the pressure on the psyche to confirm to the surroundings or hold strong to the "self" is building for at least a few years before the final "conversion". I was in a similar position long ago, but the critical strength for me was that I had already spent several years of my early life in Desh and knew enough about our culture/ethos and something deeper intertwining the thinking and the land, that I found it very hard to completely and voluntarily discard my identity. for those who were born or grow up in USA, there has to be some mechanism which allows them to get an appreciation for their "home" identity. There are many successful examples, but also many warning signs of danger.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 11 Nov 2012 03:39

KJoishy wrote:The interesting thing is Tulsi is racially Caucasian and not SDRE. She is a convert to Hinduism.
Look at her and look at our own (Jindal and Haley) who have sold their souls for the praise of the gora.

There is a bit of Samoan in her. And her parents converted.

Added: interestingly the Buddhist and the Hindu are connected to India in terms of faith, no ancestral relationship.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 11 Nov 2012 05:08

devesh wrote:...critical "crossover" into the other side happened during high school years...

As far as Governor Jindal is concerned, I have on good authority that he had converted much later. He was already married by the time he converted and requested his wife Mrs. Supriya to convert as well. The conversion is for political reasons only. AFAIK.

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 11 Nov 2012 05:44

Re Tulsi Gabbard vs. Jindal/Haley et al.

Sounds like an interesting choice: SDRE Jindals who embrace Catholicism etc. vs. White Hindus who embrace Hinduism.

My non-existing vote goes to the female with big teeth and high cheekbones supported by Obama and not hiding her faith.

Beats the Catholic Gandhis in India wot?

Either way, my 'vote' does not count

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 11 Nov 2012 07:00

matrimc wrote:
devesh wrote:...critical "crossover" into the other side happened during high school years...
As far as Governor Jindal is concerned, I have on good authority that he had converted much later. He was already married by the time he converted and requested his wife Mrs. Supriya to convert as well. The conversion is for political reasons only. AFAIK.

if so, then that is even more opportunistic and profit-motive than I imagined. perhaps his darker skin color induced another layer of "insecurity" and the need to completely submerge his "difference" became even greater in him?? he did grow up in the American South, and was trying his luck with the Southern Republican circles, so the "conversion" was probably the easiest path for him. only question is does he have any remnant guilt from the abandoning of his "self". ditto with Nikki Haley.

this is completely OT though. so, any further discussion we should take it to OT or Nukkad.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 11 Nov 2012 08:42

The "em-bed-ded" general's sad fate.

Poor Gen."Betray-us" as some say.Betrayed by his colleagues at the CIA? There's more to the shooting down of Betray-us than meets the eye.This is the first shot from the cannon of the re-elected Obama administration."Betray-us" is being hauled over the coals as the "patsy" for the Benghazi butchery.Apart from that,the intellectual general-as he was being touted, Betray-us was also being tipped as a possible strong future candidate for becoming US president.Obama cleverly seduced him into becoming CIA chief,but has now Betrayed Betray-us himself. How delightful!

If Presidents like JFK and Billy-the-goat Clinton could be shielded by the system for their debauched behaviour,Betray-us's affair seems a mere trifle in comparison.The interesting question is who is going to be named as his successor.That will tell its own tale.We must thank betray-us however for giving us a new meaning to the word "embedded".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ffair.html

Spy chief Gen David Petraeus, his 'embedded' biographer and the FBI email trawl that exposed their affair
General David Petraeus resigned as CIA director after an FBI hunt for a suspicious emailer revealed his affair with biographer Paula Broadwell.

By Philip Sherwell, New York

7:43PM GMT 10 Nov 2012

He was lauded as the greatest soldier-scholar of his generation, a highly decorated general who was equally at home negotiating the intrigues of Washington or in the trenches of Iraq and Afghanistan.

She was a fellow West Point graduate, a counter-terrorism expert, a fitness champion and a tall, striking brunette two decades his junior who had modelled for a machine gun manufacturer.

Now the career of General David Petraeus has ended in the tawdry disgrace of a sex scandal after he stunned the US military, intelligence and political establishments with his resignation as America's spy chief because of an extramarital affair.

His reported mistress, Paula Broadwell, was the co-author of a fawning recent biography of the general, who resigned as director of the Central Intelligence Agency on Friday. Both are married with children.

In a remarkable twist, it was agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation who discovered that the head of the CIA was conducting an affair. The investigation was launched when an unidentified woman described as close to the general contacted the FBI after she received threatening emails, according to an account in The Washington Post.

The FBI traced the emails to Mrs Broadwell and in the process uncovered explicit messages between her and Gen Petraeus, law enforcement officials told the newspaper.

It is reported that investigators initially thought that the CIA director's personal email account might have been hacked, but concluded that the two were indeed having an affair and that Mrs Broadwell perceived the other woman as a threat to that relationship.

Other US media also reported that the investigation involved two women, indicating that Gen Petraeus' career may have collapsed amid an acrimonious love triangle. Suspicions of infidelities had followed him for years, current and former US military officials told The Washington Post.

"It was portrayed to us that the FBI was investigating something else and came upon him," a congressional official briefed on the inquiry told The New York Times.

The dates of the affair are unclear. An unnamed official told The Wall Street Journal that the relationship started after Gen Petraeus left the army in August 2011 and that he broke it off several months ago. But the two were reported to have been close in Afghanistan when Mrs Broadwell was, in military parlance, an "embedded" journalist with him between 2010 and 2011.

Ronald Kessler, a veteran Washington journalist who has written a book on the FBI and has close contacts at the bureau, said that the investigators found emails from the general's time in Afghanistan apparently detailing sexual encounters, including a tryst under his desk.

Gen Petraeus is not under investigation for any crime, US officials said. But as head of the CIA, he would have known that an affair would jeopardise his career. The military mastermind who rewrote US doctrines of counter-insurgency and was proud of savvy in media and politics has been brought down by human weakness and a shocking lack of judgment.

He was a model and mentor for many up-and-coming officers. Among his fellow top brass, however, there were those who viewed him as a vaunting careerist who crafted his portrayal in the media for his own personal ambitions.

So it is a sad irony that an affair apparently with an adulatory biographer sabotaged his ambitions. "Gen Petraeus is a man obsessed by his own image," a senior officer who knows him well told The Sunday Telegraph in the US. "Sadly this has been his downfall."

His fall from grace leaves Barack Obama searching for a new spy chief just days after his re-election. The timing also prompted conspiracy theories: the CIA director had been due to testify Congress this week to be grilled about how his agency and the White House handled intelligence on the US consulate attack in Benghazi that claimed the lives of four Americans, including the ambassador to Libya. Some congressmen demanded that he still appear, despite his resignation.

Gen Petraeus, 60, led the 101st Airborne Division in the 2003 Iraq invasion and later commanded the military "surges" in Iraq and Afghanistan, operations based on his counter-insurgency strategy that focused on protecting civilians as well as killing enemies.

The "surge" in Iraq, under George W Bush, is widely credited with turning around a failed war; the second, under Mr Obama, delivered a major blow to the Taliban.

The general, who has been married for 37 years and has two adult children, retired from the army when appointed by Mr Obama last September to head the CIA. At the time some Republicans hoped that the war veteran could be persuaded to run for president. There was speculation this year that Mitt Romney might pick him as a running mate.

Mrs Broadwell, 40, a high achiever in her own right, lives in a large brick home valued at nearly $1 million in an upmarket district of Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband Scott, a radiologist, and their two young sons, Landon and Lucien.

She is a research associate at Harvard's Centre for Public Leadership and is working on a doctorate in the war studies department at King's College London.

She has several other qualifications from leading institutions and previously worked for US Special Operations Command and an FBI joint terrorism task force. According to the biography on her personal website, which was taken down after the scandal broke, she has completed half-triathlons and was a "female model/demonstrator" for a manufacturer of .45-calibre machine guns.

Mrs Broadwell and Gen Petraeus met in 2006 at Harvard when she was studying for a master's degree at the Kennedy School of Government and he gave a lecture there. She introduced herself and the visiting officer answered her follow-up questions on counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism.

With his help, she moved on to a PhD dissertation entitled "A case study of General Petraeus's leadership".

Two years later, Mr Obama was appointed him to run the war in Afghanistan after his predecessor, Gen Stanley McChrystal, quit following disparaging comments that he and his senior staff made to a Rolling Stone magazine journalist about Obama administration officials. Gen Petraeus noted at the time that there would have been no such naive slips by his team.

Mrs Broadwell spotted an opportunity to turn her dissertation into a book and negotiated a deal with Penguin Press, bringing in Vernon Loeb, a Washington Post editor, to help. She boasted of her access to her subject in a hagiographical work that some reviewers said amounted to a gushing love letter.

"I took full advantage of his open-door policy to seek insight and share perspectives," she wrote in All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, published in January. In the book blurb, she describes her "passion for leadership and security policy".

In an interview with Jon Stewart, the US television show host, Mrs Broadwell told how from summer 2010 to summer 2011 she spent several months "embedded" - the military term for journalists given official access to the armed forces in a war zone - with Gen Petraeus in Afghanistan.

During the show, she made clear her starry-eyed fondness for her subject. "He can turn water into bottled water," she joked. She has also said that she viewed him as a mentor and in the book she notes that he saw her as an "aspiring soldier-scholar" - a high accolade from a man who regarded himself as the master exponent of that combination.

Both were also fitness fanatics. Indeed, she conducted much of her research work during the five-mile morning runs to which Gen Petraeus would invite honoured guests in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I thought I'd test him, but he was going to test me - it ended up being a test for both of us since we both ran pretty quickly," she told Stewart. "That was the foundation of our relationship." When he didn't want to answer questions, she said, "he would pick up the pace so neither of us could talk".

The revelation of the affair came as little surprise to some who worked with the two in Afghanistan. "As soon as the announcement was made, I knew in an instant who it was," a senior US military source who has worked closely with Gen Petraeus and knew Mrs Broadwell told the Business Insider website.

"Everything made sense. Who had exclusive access to him? Who wrote the hagiography on his life? Who framed their entire existence around his persona?"

The unnamed source added: "She went from someone very likeable to a shameless, self-promoting prom queen. A very disturbing shift in how she carried herself. If she knew [Gen Petraeus] was going to make an appearance at an event, she'd crash it without an invitation."

Gen Petraeus graduated top of the class in 1974 from West Point military academy. It was not only the start of a glittering career, he also met his future wife there: Holly Knowlton was the daughter of the general who ran the academy.

Mrs Petraeus heads the wing of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that assists military families financially. The couple's son, Stephen, has followed his father into the military, and their daughter, Anne, is a food writer who was married last month.

In a short statement after his resignation, Gen Petraeus said: "After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behaviour is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organisation such as ours."

Obama administration officials said that the White House was only informed of the FBI investigation on Wednesday, although former intelligence officials have expressed surprise that the president's team was not alerted earlier.

Gen Petraeus met Mr Obama in the White House on Thursday to offer his resignation. Fresh back from his gruelling election campaign, the president did not initially want to accept it, but said he would think about it overnight. The next day, he called his CIA director to tell him that he would not pressurise him to stay.

"By any measure through his lifetime of service, David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger," the president said in a statement that did not mention the affair.

Mrs Broadwell has made no public comment, but her identity was disclosed to media outlets by several US officials.

Gen Petraeus's success with the military surges earned him rock-star status among his own troops. Earlier, as a commander during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he was known for asking embedded reporters, "Tell me how this ends?"

Many interpreted that as a catchphrase that foresaw the chaos that he would later be called back to Iraq to fix. Few could ever have imagined it having such resonance in his own career.

He regularly shared his wisdom with younger officers to whom he preached a mantra of individual leadership and personal character, reminding them of the need to do the right thing, even when nobody was watching.

Last week Mrs Broadwell shared 12 lessons on leadership from Gen Petraeus in an article for Newsweek. Several take on an added resonance in light of the scandal that erupted a few days later.

Most notable is number five: "We all will make mistakes. The key is to recognise them and admit them, to learn from them." It is a moral that Gen Petraeus and Mrs Broadwell will doubtless both be considering now as they try to put their lives back together.

Additional reporting by Colin Freeman

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 11 Nov 2012 08:55

But again since I have heard it second hand from a person who heard it first hand (that it is for political purposes only), this could be an interpretation by that person from whom I heard it. Anyways, as you said it is OT.

On another note, I found his rebuttal of President Obama's State of the Nation speech to be quite reasonable. In fact IMVHO, he wanted to give the impression of speaking heart-to-heart rather than the grandiosely eloquent but impersonal speech of the president.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 11 Nov 2012 08:58

Spengler on graphic demographic trends spelling trouble for the US of A

Always sorta liked this spengler guy. Here too, he makes a convincing case, almost. Read it for yourself and judge.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 11 Nov 2012 09:43

Guys, I have a question. Our RAPE like Karan Thappad have this glowing admiration for the US presidential election, and even extol American nationalism which is strident to the core. Yet, the same pukes detest any Indian political party espouse Indian nationalism, especially, the need for TSP to be brought to justice. How do you explain this dichotomy?

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed ... 57849.aspx

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 11 Nov 2012 09:51

^ CRS ji

Read this - http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 0#p1353820

The problem for Karan-Thappads with the Indian nationalism of RSS/BJP types is that it is rooted in Bharat. When Dharma is basis for Indian nationalism, these selfish idiots cannot continue with their nonsense.

The nationalism of Republican party is based on asuric ideology that destroyed the native civilization for no specific reason except the fact that they are not Anglo-Saxons.

When an Indian party rooted in Abrahamic religions and speaks about nationalism then these Karan-Thappads will accept it.

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 11 Nov 2012 11:09

Jindals 'rebuttal' was the laughing stock of the country. Even republicans smacked themselves and it took him so many years of lying low and now he rears his head again.

I can never forget his idiotic narration of what his father told him about America and blah blah.

He is the classic 'convert who hates his past' even if some of it is necessitated by his political ambitions and compulsions. Great people overcome this by changing minds of their followers, not by changing their mind to existing thinking. He is not going anywhere higher than where he is.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 11 Nov 2012 11:31

Gus wrote:Even republicans smacked themselves and it took him so many years of lying low and now he rears his head again.

and their acumen had paid off handsomely on election day

VikramS · Post by **VikramS** » 11 Nov 2012 11:51

An uncommon post which goes into the history of US Jehadi connection

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/09/ ... o-911.html

VikramS · Post by **VikramS** » 11 Nov 2012 12:08

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/magaz ... .html?_r=0
Jindal was baptized in college.

http://swampland.time.com/2008/06/11/jindals_exorcism/

Lilo · Post by **Lilo** » 11 Nov 2012 12:37

A 2010 WP report on Ombaba and Petraeus

Obama and Petraeus: A wary relationship
Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 1, 2010; 12:03 PM

.... A case can be made that equally important will be the relationship between the president and his commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus.

Bob Woodward's powerful new book, "Obama's Wars," underscores the delicacy of the relationship between Obama and Petraeus by highlighting the tensions that have long existed between the two ambitious and competitive men.

In Petraeus, Obama is dealing with perhaps the most recognized and acclaimed general of this generation, a skillful bureaucratic infighter who also has an almost unique ability among senior military officers to communicate outside normal channels through the media.

Woodward offers this example. At one point during the Afghan review, Petraeus awoke to a newspaper column critical of the counterinsurgency strategy. To counter the criticism, he phoned another columnist to make the case for it. "Obama and several of his staffers were furious," Woodward writes. "It angered Obama that Petraeus was publicly lobbying and prejudging a presidential decision."

Obama and Petraeus have dealt with one another warily since the president was a candidate. Obama was a vocal opponent of Iraq war, opposed Bush's troop surge policy and favored a fixed timetable for withdrawing troops. Petraeus was seen as Bush's favorite general and the architect of the strategy employed under the surge policy.

Their first meeting came in the July 2008 when Obama was visiting Iraq as a candidate. They were photographed together in a helicopter. Both were smiling, but their meeting was a standoff. Petraeus made the case for the surge and for flexibility on withdrawing troops. Obama said that, if he became president, he would deal with Iraq in a broader context, meaning he would listen to Petraeus's advice but not necessarily take it.

Both can claim they got their way on Iraq. The surge was judged a success, adding to Petraeus's prestige. Obama has been grudging about acknowledging that he misjudged its potential to reduce the violence. But Obama was able to announce in August that he had kept his campaign promise to remove all combat forces.

They are now comrades in arms in Afghanistan, looking toward a July 2011 deadline that is supposed to begin the drawdown of U.S. forces there. The coming year could bring a test of wills between a strong-minded president determined to avoid a lengthy commitment in a war that is already nine years old and a strong-minded general who does not want to be rushed by deadlines or timetables to accomplish what he has set out to do.

In Iraq, Petraeus was the face of the surge policy, in large part because no one else in the government at the time, especially Bush, had the public credibility to do so. It's doubtful Obama wants Petraeus to be so dominant a figure with regard to Afghanistan.

That Obama and Petraeus find themselves in this position is, of course, an accident of history. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal was to have been the commander in Afghanistan, with Petraeus commander of the U.S. Central Command. But damaging comments by the general and his aides in a damaging Rolling Stone article forced Obama to relieve him of his command.

Obama turned to Petraeus to take over in Afghanistan, in essence asking the general to take a demotion for the good of the country. It was regarded as a brilliant choice at the time and quickly doused a potentially larger controversy over Obama's relationship with the military.

But the irony was not lost on some of the president's closest advisers that, while Petraeus was the ideal person to replace McChrystal, he could present a more formidable obstacle to Obama in his desire to make next summer a genuine turning point in the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

The damning portrait Woodward draws in his book is of a White House team constantly at odds with the military and a president repeatedly frustrated by what he and his advisers saw as the military's effort to thwart his requests.

Obama's ultimate decision called for a major escalation in the U.S. effort, sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. At the time, the number of troops was close enough to the 40,000 originally requested that it looked like Obama had yielded to the generals. Woodward's book helps explain why, at the time, White House officials regarded the decision as the president resisting efforts at railroading by the generals.

The White House and the Pentagon have sent conflicting signals about the July 2011 deadline. Military officials, including Petraeus, have suggested there is considerable wiggle room. The president and Vice President Biden have tried repeatedly to suggest there will be big changes starting next July.

Obama and his team know that the Democratic base is already unhappy with the commitment to Afghanistan. What they need from Petraeus is both demonstrable success in a war that has not gone well and the assurance that he can vouch for the start of a genuine handoff to the Afghans. What is not known is what assurances Petraeus may have asked for in terms of making the decision as conditions-based as he likes.

Bush administration officials came to regard Petraeus not only as skilled inside player but ultimately a team player as well, despite his reputation for attracting attention to himself. That would suggest that come next summer he will find a way to satisfy his commander-in-chief - but perhaps not before another tense struggle with the White House.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 11 Nov 2012 16:10

Kessler: FBI Investigation Led to Petraeus Resignation
Friday, November 9, 2012 04:43 PM

By: Ronald Kessler

Ronald Kessler reporting from Washington, D.C. — The resignation of David H. Petraeus as CIA director followed an FBI investigation of many months, raising the question of why he was not forced out until after the election.

In his letter of resignation, Petraeus cited an extra-marital affair he had been having. “After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair,” Petraeus said in his letter to President Obama. “Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.”

Petraeus, who had a distinguished military career, revealed no additional details. However, an FBI source says the investigation began when American intelligence mistook an email Petraeus had sent to his girlfriend as a reference to corruption. Petraeus was commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan from July 4, 2010 until July 18, 2011.

The investigation began last spring, but the FBI then pored over his emails when he was stationed in Afghanistan.

The woman who was having an affair with Petraeus is a journalist who had been writing about him.

Given his top secret clearance and the fact that Petraeus is married, the FBI continued to investigate and intercept Petraeus’ email exchanges with the woman. The emails include sexually explicit references to such items as sex under a desk.

Such a relationship is a breach of top secret security requirements and could have compromised Petraeus.

At some point after Petraeus was sworn in as CIA director on Sept. 6, 2011, the woman broke up with him. However, Petraeus continued to pursue her, sending her thousands of emails over the last several months, raising even more questions about his judgment.

Neither Petraeus nor the CIA’s Office of Public Affairs had any immediate comment.

FBI agents on the case expected that Petraeus would be asked to resign immediately rather than risk the possibility that he could be blackmailed to give intelligence secrets to foreign intelligence agencies or criminals. In addition, his pursuit of the woman could have distracted him as the CIA was giving Congress reports on the attack on the Benghazi consulate on Sept. 11.

The CIA ‘s reporting to Congress included a claim that protests over a YouTube video played a role in the attacks, thus allowing Obama to initially discount the possibility that the U.S. had suffered another terrorist attack just before the election.

In contrast, based on real time video and reports, the State Department was reporting that the attack that led to the deaths of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, was terrorist-related. The State Department reported that there were no protests at the consulate.

Still, the White House, with concurrence by the FBI and Justice Department, held off on asking for Petraeus’ resignation until after the election. His resignation occurred three days after the election, avoiding the possibility that Obama’s ill-fated appointment of Petraeus could become an issue in the election.

FBI agents on the case were aware that such a decision had been made to hold off on forcing him out until after the election and were outraged.

“The decision was made to delay the resignation apparently to avoid potential embarrassment to the president before the election,” an FBI source says. “To leave him in such a sensitive position where he was vulnerable to potential blackmail for months compromised our security and is inexcusable.”

Michael Kortan, the FBI’s assistant director for public affairs, said he had no comment.

ArmenT · Post by **ArmenT** » 11 Nov 2012 16:25

More news coming out about the Petraeus investigation. Seems that the investigation started because the woman he was having an affair with got jealous of another woman he knew. So she sent threatening emails to the other woman. The other woman got scared and forwarded the threatening emails to the FBI. The FBI traced the source of the threatening emails to Paula Broadwell and one of those emails was connected to an email account belonging to Gen. Petraeus. Because of who it was, they began investigating in case someone had broken into his e-mail account and during the investigation, they uncovered very explicit e-mails between Broadwell and Gen. Petraeus.
Washington Post link to the story

Now, the investigation hasn't disclosed yet who this other woman is and what her relationship with General Petraeus is either.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 11 Nov 2012 21:27

Interestingly there is so little information in open source known about Chris Steven's marital life (status, kids, photos etc). Lot of detail on his mother, great grand parents, great great grandparents but not immediate.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 11 Nov 2012 23:36

VikramS wrote:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/magaz ... .html?_r=0
Jindal was baptized in college.

Devesh garu
In light of the above, I contacted the person and came to know that the request was made at the time of the proposal which squares with the above. That said, I am not sure how it is germane to his disposition towards India unless one thinks India in terms of "a majority Hindu nuclear armed nation which has fought several wars with Pakistan a majority Muslim nuclear armed nation".

pentaiah · Post by **pentaiah** » 12 Nov 2012 00:50

Even KGB chief Putin had some dip ins when he was in office
So it's common in the company affairs to come across "The Spy who shagged me"