David Petraeus is latest US military officer to engineer his own downfall
Once-vaunted general is latest in long line of US military officers to have engineered their own downfall by becoming embroiled in scandal
The sex scandal that punctured the image of America's most admired general, David Petraeus, is just the latest in a litany of cases of misconduct plaguing the US top brass, and raises questions about a military that is venerated but isolated from civilian society.
Even before Petraeus - a retired four-star commander - stunned Washington by announcing his resignation as director of the CIA over an extramarital affair, a growing number of generals and other senior officers were facing allegations of ethical lapses and sexual abuse.
The revelations paint a picture of military leadership living a privileged, insulated existence, and a country that often discourages public criticism of anyone in uniform, after a decade of wars waged by an all-volunteer force.
Petraeus, perhaps the most storied American soldier of his generation, exemplified that level of admiration. There had even been talk of a presidential run, a possibility that now seems laughably remote.
"The country put him on a big, high pedestal, and he took himself off that pedestal with his own actions," said retired colonel Steve Boylan, Petraeus' former aide and acting spokesman since the scandal broke. "As he told me, 'I screwed up.'"
The Petraeus case is part of a spate of recent cases involving senior officers, leading many to question whether respect for the military is always justified.