Dem politics vs national security

Mark hits the nail on the hammer.

Mark Thiessen: The Daily Beast reports that the Obama Pentagon is considering retroactively demoting retired Gen. David Petraeus:

The decision now rests with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, who is said to be willing to consider overruling an earlier recommendation by the Army that Petraeus not have his rank reduced. Such a demotion could cost the storied general hundreds of thousands of dollars—and deal an additional blow to his once-pristine reputation.

This is simply outrageous. Gen. Petraeus is an American hero. He is the most consequential American general since World War II. He not only saved the country from a humiliating, Vietnam-like defeat in Iraq. He brought us a great military victory over the forces of terror in Iraq – a victory later squandered by the Obama administration’s withdrawal of all US forces which allowed the rise of ISIS.

Petraeus committed a crime in mishandling classified information, but he has paid his debt to society. He pled guilty in federal court, paid a $100,000 fine, and was sentenced to two years’ probation. He lost his job, his reputation, and his public career. Why on earth would the Obama administration want to further humiliate him? Moreover, with Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and Libya all on fire, doesn’t the secretary of defense have more pressing matters on which to spend his limited time?

And what kind of world do we live in where Gen. Petraeus could face a demotion while Hillary Clinton seeks a promotion to commander in chief?  What Petraeus did pales in comparison to Hillary Clinton’s gross negligence in the handling of classified information. On the same day the Petraeus news broke, Fox News reported:

Hillary Clinton’s emails on her unsecured, homebrew server contained intelligence from the US government’s most secretive and highly classified programs, according to an unclassified letter from a top inspector general to senior lawmakers.

Fox News exclusively obtained the unclassified letter, sent Jan. 14 from Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III. It laid out the findings of a recent comprehensive review by intelligence agencies that identified “several dozen” additional classified emails — including specific intelligence known as “special access programs” (SAP).

That indicates a level of classification beyond even “top secret,” the label previously given to two emails found on her server, and brings even more scrutiny to the presidential candidate’s handling of the government’s closely held secrets.

In the case of Petraeus, national security was not compromised in any way.  He shared paper copies of classified information with one person who should not have seen them. But she had a security clearance and no one has suggested the information he shared with her ever fell into the wrong hands or compromised US security in any way.

Hillary Clinton, by contrast put more than 1,300 classified emails onto an unsecured personal server that might very well have been hacked by our enemies. We know that she instructed aides to take classification markings off of classified information and send it to her on unclassified systems.

Moreover, Petraeus admitted to his crime, resigned from office, publicly apologized, and pled guilty in federal court.

Hillary Clinton, by contrast, has repeatedly changed her story about the classified information on her server, and continues to deny any wrongdoing.  She has not admitted to her crimes, publicly apologized, or paid her debt to society. Quite the opposite, while Petraeus’ life, reputation, and political ambitions are ruined, Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States.