Paula Broadwell, biographer of retired Army General David Petraeus, calls him the “King of COIN” — counter-insurgency.
Her book, “All In: The Education of General David Petraeus,” is a portrait of leadership and innovative military strategy, the counter-insurgency tactics that he developed and deployed.
His reported romantic involvement with her led to his resignation as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, with the hugely decorated four-star general and commander of U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan admitting to “an extramarital affair” in a statement to CIA employees Friday. Three people, all intelligence, military or congressional officials, identified the woman in that relationship as Broadwell, as reported at Bloomberg.com. She has not responded to e-mail requests for an interview or phone messages left at her home.
Broadwell, in a Feb. 20 online interview with a fawning Arthur Kade at his celebrity-interview Web site promoting her best-selling book, said the biography, which started as a doctoral dissertation, led to personal interviews of Petraeus, sometimes while running with him, and “our rapport increased.” The self-described “soldier-scholar” is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, as is Petraeus. She recalls being one in 10 as a woman there.
“It’s not a hagiography,” she said of the book. “I’m not in love with David Petraeus.”
