Petraeus is on Capitol Hill to give his advice to the Senate committee on the U.S.’s Middle East policy, almost three years after he tendered his resignation as Central Intelligence Agency Director after admitting to having an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.
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“One that brought discredit on me and pain to those closest to me”, he said, thanking Armed Services Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., for the opportunity to return to the public debate and pledging to go forward “with a greater sense of humility and goal “.
“It was a violation of the trust placed in me and a breach of the values to which I’d been committed throughout my life”, he said.
Petraeus began his testimony with an emotional apology over his spectacular fall from grace, after he pleaded guilty this year to providing classified secrets to his mistress.
Petraeus, a retired four-star army general who led the 2007 surge in Iraq, said while the USA has made significant advances in the nation against the Islamic State, “We are not where we should be at this point”. “There is nothing I can to do to undo what I did”.
“In Iraq we have halted and reversed ISIS’s momentum in some areas, but we have seen gains by ISIS in others such as Ramadi”, Petraeus said. He also called the Syrian civil war a “geopolitical Chernobyl”.
Petraeus stopped short of recommending the deployment of USA troops for combat roles before a “viable” force of Iraqi partners was available to hold onto the areas taken back from IS. Within Syria, he urged the United States to take a stronger stance against President Bashar Assad, warning the Syrian leader that if he continues dropping barrel bombs, the USA will stop the Syrian air force from flying.
Broadwell later wrote her doctoral dissertation at least partly about Petraeus, with his cooperation, and the two then collaborated on her biography of him, which she co-wrote. “I can only say, again, how sorry I am”.
“I do not make recommendations for any kind of military action lightly”, he said.
He recommended the “establishment of enclaves” protected by “coalition airpower” where moderate Sunnis rebels could be supported and displaced refugees could seek shelter.
Petraeus warned against rushing to oust Assad without knowing who would fill the resulting political vacuum in the country. “I would not, for example, embed USA personnel at the Iraqi battalion level, nor would I support clearance operations before a viable force is available”, he said.
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Petraeus criticized the administration’s insistence that there’s no military solution in Syria, saying protecting civilians from the government of President Bashar al-Assad is a minimal step necessary to build confidence among the Sunni Arabs whose support is needed for success in the fight against the Islamic State.
