Scandal Widens

Every day brings new revelations in the sex scandal involving Gen. David Petraeus, the CIA director who resigned last week. The director admitted an extramarital affair with a woman who was his biographer and who sent threatening emails to another woman who was close to Petraeus. Now there is speculation that the FBI withheld information about the general because of the presidential election.

The investigation now has extended to the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, John Allen, and involves thousands of alleged inappropriate communications with the second woman involved in the scandal, the AP reported.

The women involved are Paula Broadwell, who wrote a book about Petraeus while having an extramarital affair with him, and Jill Kelley, a Petraeus family friend who was threatened by Broadwell who felt Kelley was getting too close to the general. The latest discovery is that Gen. Allen was sending emails to Kelley.

This is an unraveling story that seems to top what we read in fiction books or see in the movies

The White House is holding up Gen. Allen’s appointment to become the next commander of the U.S. European Command and the commander of NATO forces in Europe. A Pentagon official said 20,000 to 30,000 pages of emails and other documents from Gen. Allen’s communications with Kelley are under review. Gen. Allen has denied any wrongdoing. If Gen. Allen was having an affair with Kelley he could face charges of adultery, which is a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Congress is trying to conduct an investigation and wants testimony from the key people involved in this scandal.

Whether this scandal, if revealed prior to the election, would have made any difference in the outcome is a matter that is sure to be a topic that will be around for a while. We don’t think it would have made any difference.

To have top military figures, one who went on to head the CIA, be involved in a scandal such as this is disturbing to Americans who put their trust in these men. They are supposed to be excellent examples of American leadership. Their records have been tarnished forever. From what has been revealed so far, they have violated the public’s trust.

We can’t help but wonder “what’s next” in the investigation.