John Cole, in the link in the update, proposes a motivation--that Boylan had subordinates send out mail under his email address.

This would make a great deal of sense--that the rapid response resource at Boylan's shop for web monitoring is not Boylan himself.

This would explain why there is no concern over someone else sending out the email. This would mean, though, given the consistency of the diction and the tone that the ghost writing has been going on for awhile.

I would add as evidence to this line of thought the way both the email in question and the other emails and blog comments move back and forth from "I" to "we" very interchangeably. In a few instances, Boylan is clearly referring to Petraeus as the other part of the "we", but in most, I have trouble determining just who the rest of the "we" refers to.

This scenario also fits with my earlier prediction that if the heat gets too high on this, the subordinate will get thrown under the bus.

PS--I also can't bring up the John Cole link. Too much traffic?

That was a tremendous letter. Your patriotic service to our country continues. I thank you for your clear voice and brave stand.

I just submitted the following to the feedback function on CNN's Political Ticker. They claim that this is their mode for submitting story ideas.

You really need to report on the ongoing situation regarding the politicization of the Public Affairs Office affiliated with General Petraeus in Iraq. Col. Steven Boylan has repeatedly leaked inside information useful to the Bush Administration to right-wing blogs while unleashing illiterate, bullying tirades on the left. For a full summary of his latest activities, please see this article by Farhad Manjoo at Salon:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/10/31/boylan/

This is an extremely important story that relates to the integrity of our Armed Forces. Please check it out and send your own inquiry to the military regarding the origin of the disputed email received by Glenn Greenwald on Sunday.

I doubt they'll do anything, but it can't hurt to try.