It is weird - we are getting a glipse now, of some of the machinations involved.

All signs currently point to Eric Cantor, after getting wind of the affair, having an allied FBI agent frame the General's paramour for sending "harassing" emails. I find it very unlikely that she actually sent the emails. Possible? Sure. Likely? In this case, no.

Someone knew of an affair, and cooked up a scheme to get it exposed.

So Why? Thats a good question. The most common answer swirling around is the Libyan issue, but I do not think it had anything to do with it - this scheme far predates the Libyan episode.

There are three plausible reasons, in order:

1) Money. Some sort of contract for mega millions that we have not heard about, because its CIA stuff and they often at least try to keep their expenditures under wraps. The concept that Petraeus did not want to play ball with some major appropriations scheme or other, and that people standing to benefit seized upon a personal weakness to get him removed strikes me as the most historically common - and thus, without further information the most plausible.

2) Partisan politics. Whether the perpetrators thought that maybe the issue would come out before the election , thus giving the Dems the opportunity to somehow drop the ball and distracting Obamas campaign or not is questionable. Also, though striking a blow to a potential Petraeus Presidential run might be a desirable side effect, 3 years gives him time to recover - and it would have been much more effective to simply hold the knowledge close to the vest and have it disclosed during a Presidential Primary. Denying Obama a talented cabinet member would be a plus for many people.... but does not seem like strong enough motivation in of itself.

3) Unknown - something not considered here.

I put money as the most probable based on what is currently known. Though it is possible that Petraeus was simply an actual honest patriot and there were other schemes he was standing in the way of. Still, money far and away most likely at this point.

-

Also, though obviously the situation is strange... I am not certain that any accidents will befall the General. Taking out a General is a dicey proposition , even for the most powerful movers and shakers. The possibility of exposure, and even more dangerous - the possibility that loyal subordinates connect the dots is just too high. So we typically see that type of risky behavior in 2nd and 3rd world countries - a rash of high level deaths among the political and corporate elites would create too much "noise" and threaten entire crony parasitic ecosystems.

More likely, is to see the FBI agent at the locus of the issue disappear."Suicides" not uncommon in these types of situations, especially after he takes quite a bit of heat. Once that guy is gone, any credible evidence directly linking the powerful to the plot disappears. One FBI agent who got too obsessive over a case, then kills himself in a fit of career despair or mental instability unlikely to make more than a small blurb in the paper.

For who could be free when every other man's humour might domineer over him? - John Locke (2nd Treatise, sect 57)