Friday, June 27, 2014

Gen. David Petraeus says "After America" will be North America with US, Mexico and Canada set to be a force together despite Mexico's "rule of law issues"

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6/18/14, "Petraeus: USA Needs Immigration Reform, Washington D.C. is A Security Threat to the Country," Breitbart London, Raheem Kassam

"General David Petraeus, the former CIA director and head of the international forces in Afghanistan (ISAF), has today said that the United States is suffering deeply because of partisanship, and said that the country needs immigration reform."...

[Ed. note: Petraeus says immigration reform is about "human capital." Near end of article.]

(continuing): "Gen. Petraeus was speaking on the "After America, What?" panel at the Centre for Policy Studies’ Margaret Thatcher Liberty Conference at the Guildhall in the City of London.

"After America comes North America," he said, discussing how Canada, the United States and Mexico are set to be a formidable force together, "notwithstanding Mexico’s rule of law issues".

"Clearly China is gong to continue to grow and develop, he said, but the former CIA chief was optimistic about America’s future. 

"The United States does faces challenges, we do have to get immigration reform… our debt-to-GDP ratio… the deadlock in Washington, etcetera etcetera."

Petraeus, who now works for the KKR Global Institute, spent much of his time discussing how America’s Shale Gas revolution was the most positive thing to happen to the country in a long time.

But he noted of the challenges that face America: 

"Gerrymandering in the House of Representatives… has [made it] less bipartisan because of the policy divide… what has happened because of the redrawing of districts... there has become a tendency for the red districts to be bright red and the blue districts to be bright blue. This is a real problem.

"The primaries are more important and the general elections are a foregone conclusion. That’s a concern because it does make it more difficult to do what Ronald Reagan cold do with Tip O'Neill…reach across the aisle. It was ultimately what led to the closing of government…to the implementing of sequestration."...

Petraeus refused to be drawn in detail on the situation in Iraq, though he did note that "The United States cannot be the air force for the Shia militias."

The conference in London was organised by the Centre for Policy Studies in honour of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan sent a message of congratulations to the event organisers, who also attracted keynote speakers such as Niall Ferguson, Roger Scruton, Jonah Goldberg, Daniel Hannan MEP, Dr. Art Laffer, and John O’Sullivan."

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5/30/13, "Petraeus Back in Spotlight, via Wall St." NY Times Dealbook, Mark Mazzetti

"Kohlberg Kravis Roberts announced on Thursday that it had hired David H. Petraeus, a retired four-star general and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, as chairman of the new KKR Global Institute.

The institute will focus on economic forecasts, communications, public policy and emerging markets. 

It will also help the firm’s portfolio companies expand globally, K.K.R. said. Mr. Petraeus’s team at the institute will include Ken Mehlman, the onetime chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Henry McVey, K.K.R.’s global head of macro and asset allocation....

Mr. Petraeus drew criticism for his role in developing the notorious “talking points” in the days after the September 2012 attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.

When the Obama administration this month disclosed a trove of e-mails sent among officials discussing the talking points, some expressed the belief that Mr. Petraeus had appeared overly concerned with protecting the C.I.A.’s image at the expense of the State Department."...

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Added: Petraeus' wife Holly is employed by the US government at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.



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