Bill Clinton's detractors called him the adulterer-in-chief, but he was in good company. Just in the last century, presidents Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson and of course John F. Kennedy are thought to have had extramarital affairs, and rumors of similar transgressions have swirled around Dwight D. Eisenhower and the elder Bush.
Sexual purity has never been a long suit for powerful men. If being a dutiful husband were a prerequisite for political office, business advancement or military leadership, the halls of power would have sported few more than Harry S. Truman, William Jennings Bryan and Dr. Phil.
That's not to condone adultery or even excuse it, but to say it is something that should end a marriage, not a career. Many philandering presidents have served their country well.
But the military sees things differently. Adultery is a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and unfaithful soldiers can be drummed out of the service or sent to the brig. Despite the many commander-in-cheats, the military says infidelity is a punishable offense. (Do as I say, not as I do?)
Though prosecutions are exceedingly rare, their lurid details can make for a public spectacle. If the Pentagon is looking to destroy someone's career, reputation and prospects, this is one sure way to do it.
Enter Capt. James Yee, a Muslim chaplain who ministered to the estimated 660 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. To much fanfare, Yee was arrested in September under suspicion of espionage. His arrest came at a time when the Pentagon openly worried that spies may have infiltrated Guantanamo through the chaplaincy corps.
According to the allegations against Yee, customs inspectors found classified information in his possession - including a list of the detainees and camp staff - as he returned to the United States from Guantanamo. On that basis he was imprisoned for three months and treated as a terrorist, spending weeks in an isolation cell.
Since then, the government's spy case against Yee has crumbled. He has been charged with the relatively minor offense of mishandling classified material. And the criminal proceedings against Yee have been suspended until Jan. 19 so prosecutors can determine whether in fact the papers found in his backpack were classified. But as the espionage case disintegrated prosecutors found other things to pile on. Yee is now also facing charges of adultery and keeping pornography on his government computer.
Eugene Fidell, Yee's civilian lawyer, says these kinds of charges make the system look "dubious and silly."
I would equate the prosecution strategy to bringing fraud charges against a summer intern in Enron's accounting department. It is simply not fair or valid to single out Yee for an adultery charge when the list of military transgressors is probably longer than the contrail on a B-52. Solid statistics don't exist but estimates are that somewhere between 22 and 60 percent of men, and 14 and 40 percent of women, have been unfaithful.
Apply those figures to the 1.4-million people who are in active military service - about 60 percent of whom are married - and you have to wonder how come only 60 or so service members have been prosecuted for adultery in the last two years.
Clearly, the military doesn't make much of an attempt to enforce the rule, probably because to do so would lead inevitably to its repeal. No army is going to allow the court-martial of thousands of troops for extramarital sex. That means the prosecutions that do take place are either arbitrary or vindictive.
In truth, the Pentagon has been far more pragmatic toward issues of sex and soldiers than its squeaky-clean rulebook suggests. For instance, in the 1950s, the military established health inspections of prostitutes in Okinawa to protect American servicemen from VD. Those brothels given an "A-Sign," as in "approved," offered clean women. And, last year, a Fox television station uncovered that the U.S. military in South Korea was providing patrols at brothels to ensure the safety of the GI's inside. The women of these establishments were often white slaves, Russians and Filipinos who were promised good jobs in South Korea and then forced into prostitution. But rather than assist the women, our military chose to protect the R&R of their guys. Officer and a Gentleman? How about Officer and a John?
To avoid all this hypocrisy, military rules should demand one be a good soldier, not necessarily a perfect spouse.
Remember that embarrassing episode with Lt. Kelly Flinn, the female Air Force pilot who resigned in 1997 rather than face adultery charges? Well, as her career tumbled so did those of at least four philandering generals and admirals whose ousters were part of a mad scramble to demonstrate that a double standard didn't exist.
Of course, a double standard exists. For proof, just peruse a list of the military's top former commanders - our presidents.
