Sex scandal delays Obama’s nomination of Nato commander

defence, the president has put on hold his nomination of General Allen as saceur pending the investigation of General Allen’s conduct by the Department of Defence Inspector General,” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
A US defence official said FBI investigators had uncovered a trove of 20 000-30 000 pages of correspondence — mostly emails — between Allen and Jill Kelley, a key figure in the scandal that brought down CIA chief David Petraeus.
“The allegations involve inappropriate communications” between Allen, the top US commander in Afghanistan, and Kelley, the official told reporters travelling with US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta.
Panetta said in a statement that his department was informed by the FBI on Sunday about the case and that he had referred it to the Pentagon’s inspector general for investigation.
Allen, the top US commander in Afghanistan, had been tipped to take over as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe before the latest cascade of revelations.
“The President remains focused on fully supporting our extraordinary troops and coalition partners in Afghanistan, who General Allen continues to lead as he has so ably done for over a year,” Vietor said.
Meanwhile, questions are being asked: have America’s generals lost their way? The sex scandal that punctured Petraeus’ image is just the latest in a litany of cases of misconduct plaguing the US top brass, raising questions about a military often isolated from the rest of civilian society.
Even before Petraeus stunned Washington by announcing his resignation from the CIA over an extramarital affair, a growing number of generals and other senior officers were facing allegations of ethical lapses as well as sexual abuse.
The revelations paint a picture of military leadership living a privileged, insulated existence, in a country that often discourages public criticism of anyone in uniform, after a decade of wars waged by an all-volunteer force.  — AFP.