David Petraeus CIA scandal engulfs US Gen John Allen
BBC News online - 13 November 2012
Gen Petraeus and Gen Allen both served in Tampa, Florida, home to US Central Command
One
of the most senior generals in the US military has been linked to a
woman involved in the downfall of CIA Director David Petraeus.
Harassment complaints by Mrs Kelley led the FBI to discover an affair between the CIA chief and his biographer.
David Petraeus resigned on Friday. Gen Allen says he has done nothing wrong.
Currently commanding 68,000 US troops in Afghanistan, Gen Allen was due to face a confirmation hearing in the US Senate on Thursday for his new role as supreme commander of Nato forces in Europe.
That hearing has now been suspended at the request of Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, a spokesman said.
Analysis
The shadow cast over Gen Allen's future means that US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has asked the White House to put the nomination process for the next Nato supreme allied commander in Europe on hold.
Gen Allen, who was nominated for the post after his impressive performance in Afghanistan, was seen as almost certain to be approved by the Senate. The holder of Nato's top military job in Europe is also in charge of the US European command.
We do not know the nature of the relationship, if any, between Gen Allen and Jill Kelley. But the US military code takes a dim view of extramarital affairs, one of the factors that prompted Gen Petraeus to stand down as CIA director after revelations of his affair with Paula Broadwell.
David Petraeus, who preceded Gen
Allen as head of US forces in Afghanistan, resigned as head of the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) over his affair with biographer Paula
Broadwell, 40.
In a statement,
Mr Panetta said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) referred
the Gen Allen issue to the Pentagon on Sunday. The defence secretary,
currently in Australia, then ordered an investigation.He has encouraged the US Senate to act quickly on approving Gen Allen's successor in Afghanistan, Gen Joseph Dunford.
Mr Panetta praised the Gen Allen's work in Afghanistan, saying his leadership had ensured "significant progress" in improving security for Afghans.
Gen Petraeus had been due to testify before a closed-door congressional committee meeting about the 11 September 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the ambassador and three other Americans.
Acting CIA director Michael Morell will testify in his place on Thursday, although Gen Petraeus may be called at a later date.
The BBC's Jane Little says FBI agents have searched the home of Paula Broadwell
The widening of the Petraeus affair increases the focus not only on Gen Allen but on the woman he is alleged to have exchanged emails with.
Investigators are reported to have found 20-30,000 pages of documents, many of them emails between Gen Allen and Jill Kelley, 37, a married woman from Tampa, Florida.
A senior defence official would not say whether they involved sexual matters or whether they are thought to include unauthorised disclosures of classified information, the Associated Press reports.
Petraeus-Allen scandal
- Early summer - Jill Kelley complains to FBI friend of harassing emails - government official
- Late summer - FBI establish emails come from Paula Broadwell, and that she has had an affair with David Petraeus - government official
- 21 Oct - FBI interview Ms Broadwell - government official
- 22-29 Oct - FBI interview Gen Petraeus - FBI official
- 6 Nov - FBI inform James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, of Petraeus affair. Mr Clapper speaks to Gen Petraeus
- 7 Nov - Mr Clapper informs White House
- 8 Nov - White House informs President Obama. He speaks to Gen Petraeus
- 9 Nov - President Obama accepts Gen Petraeus' resignation. Congressional committees informed
- 12 Nov - FBI searches Mrs Broadwell's home
Mrs Kelley had already been named
in the Petraeus scandal after she told the FBI early in the summer she
had received anonymous harassing emails.
The agent allegedly sent a shirtless photo of himself to Mrs Kelley before she contacted him about the anonymous emails, the Wall Street Journal reports.
He also appeared to become obsessed with the case, and eventually contacted a member of Congress about it, the newspaper adds.
When the FBI investigated, it traced the emails to Paula Broadwell, bringing to light her affair with Gen Petraeus.
Late on Monday the FBI carried out a search of Mrs Broadwell's home in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Between eight and 10 agents began a search, which Mrs Broadwell is said to have consented to, around 21:00 local time (02:00 GMT) and continued for about four hours, the Charlotte Observer reports.
They were seen leaving the house with desktop computers, a printer, a briefcase and about cardboard boxes.
Mrs Kelley is married to a prominent cancer specialist in the Tampa area and works as a volunteer with wounded veterans and military families at the MacDill Air Force Base in the city.
The base is headquarters of the US Central Command, formerly headed by David Petraeus.
She is a family friend of him and his wife Holly, but no evidence has emerged that she ever had an affair with the CIA director.
US media reacts
The New York Times writes: "Commentators have questioned whether the bureau would ordinarily investigate a citizen complaint about unwanted emails, suggesting that there must have been a hidden motive, possibly political, to take action.""Aides were stunned," the Washington Post reports, "by the close access that Broadwell was granted - and that she occasionally flaunted".
"The director of the CIA has resigned over an extra-marital affair two days after a presidential election in which the agency's role in Libya was of burning concern - what is really going on here?" asks the New Yorker.
"Gen Petraeus [is] not just another philandering politician or celebrity cheater, like so many others whose indiscretions have come to light in recent years," says USA Today.
Gen Allen, a four-star Marine general, succeeded Gen Petraeus as the top American commander in Afghanistan in July 2011.
Gen Petraeus's affair with Mrs Broadwell, who co-wrote a biography of the general, began following his retirement from the army and about two months after he became director of the CIA. He said it ended about four months ago.
Gen Petraeus joined the CIA in September 2011 after heading international forces in Iraq and later in Afghanistan.
The BBC's Bilal Sarwary, in Kabul, says the scandal is making headlines and has shocked many people in Afghanistan, where Gen Allen had built good relations with leaders and commanders.
Some Afghan officials are asking how he found time to write thousands of emails when he was in charge of running a war, our correspondent says.
1. Threatening emails: Early in the summer,
Jill Kelley complains to an FBI friend about being sent harassing
emails. The FBI later establishes they came from Paula Broadwell, who
co-authored a biography of Gen David Petraeus.
2. Affair: The FBI investigation also reveals emails between Mrs Broadwell - a married former military officer - and Gen Petraeus that indicate they were having an extra-marital affair.
3. Family friends: Jill Kelley and her husband, Scott, are family friends of Gen Petraeus and his wife, Holly. Officials say Mrs Broadwell saw Mrs Kelley as a rival for Gen Petraeus's attentions. However, there is no suggestion Mrs Kelley and Gen Petraeus had an affair.
4. "Inappropriate emails" investigated: The top US commander in Afghanistan, Gen John Allen, is now being investigated for allegedly sending "inappropriate emails" to Jill Kelley. The FBI has referred the matter to the Pentagon. A senior official says up to 30,000 pages of emails and other documents are under review.
2. Affair: The FBI investigation also reveals emails between Mrs Broadwell - a married former military officer - and Gen Petraeus that indicate they were having an extra-marital affair.
3. Family friends: Jill Kelley and her husband, Scott, are family friends of Gen Petraeus and his wife, Holly. Officials say Mrs Broadwell saw Mrs Kelley as a rival for Gen Petraeus's attentions. However, there is no suggestion Mrs Kelley and Gen Petraeus had an affair.
4. "Inappropriate emails" investigated: The top US commander in Afghanistan, Gen John Allen, is now being investigated for allegedly sending "inappropriate emails" to Jill Kelley. The FBI has referred the matter to the Pentagon. A senior official says up to 30,000 pages of emails and other documents are under review.
Labels: Communication, Crisis Politics, Culture, Hezbollah, United States, Values
posted by Pieface | 8:48 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home