美防长帕内塔表示支持驻阿美军司令艾伦

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says he has "continued confidence" in General John Allen to remain as commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, despite his connection to a scandal that forced Central Intelligence Agency chief David Petraeus to resign.

Panetta made his first public remarks on the controversy Wednesday in Australia, where he is taking part in bilateral strategic cooperation talks. 

General Allen is under an internal Pentagon investigation after the Federal Bureau of Investigation uncovered 20,000 to 30,000 pages of communications involving him and Jill Kelley.   The probe is focusing on wheather the messages were "inappropriate."

It was Kelley\'s complaint to the FBI about threatening emails from the woman with whom General Petraeus had an affair, biographer Paula Broadwell, that eventually led to the CIA chief\'s resignation.

Panetta warned reporters that "no one should leap to any conclusions" about the matter.

But White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that Mr. Obama also continues to have faith in General Allen, and thinks very highly of him and his service to the country. 

星期三，帕内塔在澳大利亚首次就这一具有争议的事件公开发表评论。帕内塔目前在澳大利亚出席双边战略合作会谈。

美国联邦调查局发现艾伦将军和吉尔.凯利之间有两万到三万页的通信往来后，五角大楼对艾伦展开内部调查。调查重点在于这些通信是否“不当”。

凯利向联邦调查局报告同彼得雷乌斯有婚外情的传记作家葆拉.布罗德威尔给她发送带有威胁性的电子邮件，最终导致彼得雷乌斯辞去中央情报局长职务。

帕内塔告诫记者说，任何人都不应当就此事匆忙下结论。

不过,美国白宫发言人卡尼先前对记者们说，奥巴马总统也一直信任艾伦将军，奥巴马高度评价艾伦将军以及他为美国做出的贡献。