Aides Wondered About Paula--Light Credentials, Tight Clothes

A new Wash Post story tonight on Petraeus "letting down his guard" for once--with Paula Broadwell.  Aides seemed to sense what could be going on, evne though they never heard him comment on her looks or say she was "hot."

Peter Mansoor, a former executive officer on Petraeus’s staff, said he thought the general’s uncharacteristic confidence in an untested writer was “strange.”

“My gosh, if you are going to have someone interview everyone who has ever touched you in your life, choose someone who has written a biography or at least a history book,” he said in an interview Saturday.

There were other controversies as well. Former aides say Broadwell’s attire — usually tight shirts and pants — prompted complaints in Afghanistan, where Western-style attire can offend local sensibilities. Her form-fitting clothes made a lasting impression on longtime Afghan hands, and Petraeus once admonished her, through a staffer, to “dress down,” a former aide recalled.

“She was seemingly immune to the notion of modesty in this part of the world,” said a general who served in Afghanistan while Petraeus was commander there.

And Fred Kaplan at Slate with similar recollections.  Laura Rozen tweets just now:  "Ex cia off'l tells me CIA office of security was not properly notified by FBI of case, P resisted having personal computer checke." 

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