Extramarital affair forces CIA Director David Petraeus to resign

Washington: United States (US) Central 

Intelligence Agency (CIA) director David Petraeus 

has resigned from the spy agency, citing an 

extramarital affair, US media reported on Friday.

“Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the president to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as D/CIA,” Petraeus said in a message to CIA staff.

“After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours. This afternoon, the president graciously accepted my resignation.”

Petraeus took over the helm of the Central Intelligence agency just over a year ago in September 2011 after heading US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. He said President Barack Obama had accepted his resignation.

“Dave’s decision to step down represents the loss of one of our nation’s most respected public servants,” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a statement.

“Whether he was in uniform leading our nation’s troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, or at CIA headquarters leading the effort to generate intelligence used to keep our nation safe, Dave inspired people who had the privilege of working with him.”

CIA Deputy Director Michael. J. Morell has been appointed as the   acting director of CIA.

It is to be mentioned here that resignations of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and CIA Director David Patraeus were talk of the town in United States after the re-election of President Barack Obama.