The Mystique of David Petraeus: Were Tough Questions Brushed Aside?

Some journalists are starting to ask whether their coverage of Gen. David Petraeus glossed over difficult questions about his command of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Spencer Ackerman, a senior writer at Wired who covered Petraeus, says the media’s tendency to portray the general as “larger-than-life” is having serious consequences.

“Harder questions about strategy, about the two wars in general that Petraeus had commanded had gotten sort of swept under the rug while focusing on the mystique, the myth of this somewhat super-human figure, Petraeus,” Ackerman says. “Painting him as a super-human has its consequences in moments like this.”

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