The General's affair

The Washington Post reports the FBI discovered the Petraeus affair through some emails describing it. They do not explain how the FBI came to look at the emails but something must have triggered their curiosity.  Petraeus is not the first to be tripped up by the permanence of electronic communications.  Email and text messages have become favored form of communication for many and for discovery by divorce lawyers.

Not having affairs avoids this problem, but if you are going to have one you have to avoid the convenience of electronic communication or suffer the consequences of discovery.

Petraeus is not the first general to have an affair.  One of the most famous generals to have one was George Patton.  His affair was with a niece on his wife's side of the family.  Patton's wife came from a wealthy family in Boston and she was no shrinking violet.  When she learned of the affair she wrote a scathing letter to the woman who upon receiving it committed suicide by sticking her head in a gas oven.

We live in different times now, but infidelity still has few champions.

Petraeus is still a historic figure for what he did to turn the tide in Iraq and demonstrate that counterinsurgency warfare can defeat a wicked enemy.  There were many in this country who thought our cause was hopeless before he showed otherwise.