The question arises: with all this Peyton Place intrigue going on, when did these guys find time to fight a war? And the answer is, they didn’t. They weren’t trying to fight a war in Afghanistan, much less win one. They were just trying to win hearts and minds — and that doesn’t take too much of one’s precious time. Just dash off another cringeworthy video sucking up to “the noble people of Afghanistan,” and you’re done for the day — dim the lights and break out the wineglasses.
But seriously, as hopeless as Allen and Petraeus have been as strategists and military men, the timing of all these revelations is exceedingly favorable to Barack Obama, as it makes it increasingly less likely that the House Foreign Affairs Committee will be able to talk to those who know the truth about what happened in Libya. Either Obama is purging the military of inconvenient elements so as to save his own skin, or he is the luckiest man alive.
“Gen. John Allen Probed in David Petraeus Scandal,” by Anthony Castellano and Luis Martinez for ABC OTUS News, November 13:
Gen. John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, is under investigation for alleged “inappropriate communications” with Jill Kelley, the woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom former CIA Director David Petraeus had an extramarital affair.
The FBI has uncovered “potentially inappropriate” emails between Allen and Kelly, according to a senior U.S. defense official who is traveling with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. The department is reviewing between 20,000 and 30,000 documents connected to this matter, the official said. The email exchanges between Kelley and Allen took place from 2010 to 2012.
Panetta says the FBI referred the matter to the Pentagon on Sunday, according to a statement he released Tuesday while en route to Perth, Australia. Panetta says he ordered the Pentagon inspector general to investigate Allen on Monday.
Allen disputes that he has engaged in any wrongdoing in this matter, according to the official.
Allen, a four-star Marine general, succeeded Petraeus as the top American commander in Afghanistan in July 2011….