Talked to DOD Public Affairs person...

They do not have dog in this fight...but offered interesting insight... Their take - The reason the Benghazi & Petreaus stories don't make sense is that we are not getting the truth. The truth is classified.

When portions of a classified story come out....Public affairs tries to craft a viable narrative which incorporates the released material but, of course, does not include an additional classified material. So it's like a reconstruction of the Dead Sea scrolls.. Portions are accurate/portions are filler (and not accurate)...

Here's why the public affairs job was so obvious w/ both Benghazi & Petreaus....

Benghazi - Right after the attack, they crafted a narrative with the interim Libyan Gov't (GNC). Asma Magarief (GNC President's daughter) confirmed that her Dad spent 2 days w/ US officials in closed door meetings immediately after attack...

If Libya were say France, that would have been end of it (hopefully). There would have been one consistent story. But Libya doesn't really have a gov't. Within hours of attack, Libyan Shield (militia) commander gave interview that released far more details than should have been released. Information has continue to pour out from Libyan side... So, story has changed to reflect on-going spillage.

Also, the fact that the Benghazi station was deemed to be a total loss meant that additional details could be released (like fact that 2nd compound was CIA station)... Also, an on-going interagency turf war related to the coming fiscal crisis means a number of people are leaking their agency's spin on events.

Finally, the fact that the Congressional hearings were not closed meant additional information came out. The biggest PR mistake (avoidable disclosure) was having open Congressional hearing... So, if you are interested in Benghazi - look at Congressional hearings & documents released as a result of hearings - too much came out....

Petraeus - Again story doesn't make sense, but story is public affairs creation (not the truth)... The story is changing due to leaks that are result of the inter-agency turf war we've seen over Benghazi...

To recap official version -

Jill - Lebanese-American Social Vounteer at McDill (Home of CENTCOM) received threatening e-mails b/c she was flirting w/ Petreaus...

She complained to friend at FBI

Friend opens Cyber-stalking case... FBI traces anonymous GMail account to Paula (Petreaus biographer mistress).

In Paula's account they find evidence that she has classified material (Paula is former intelligence officer has high clearance) and steamy e-mails

Steamy e-mails traced to an anonymous GMail account belonging to Petraeus.

FBI fears someone is impersonating Petraeus.

They determine GMail account actually belongs to Petraeus. They fear he may be compromised because GMail of Commerce Sec was hacked by Chinese.

Two weeks ago FBI interviews Petraeus.

They determine that no foreign intelligence has hacked the account. No crime has been committed.

Wednesday - Clapper tells Petraeus he has to resign.

Thursday - Petraeus resigns and Friday he sends letter to all CIA staff, which is how affair becomes public...

Upshot - The Stories are total BS - but they have huge "holes" that are filled with a creamy BS frosty.. All in the name of national security..