Politico is reporting that members of a U.S. military unit that were in Colombia to assist the Secret Service with security preparations have also become entangled in the prostitution scandal that has so far resulting in a dozen Secret Service members being put on administrative leave:
CARTAGENA, Colombia — Five U.S. military members have been ordered confined to quarters over possible involvement in inappropriate conduct at the same hotel here as the 11 Secret Service personnel sent home in anunfolding scandal involving local prostitutes.
Making the announcement Saturday, United States Southern Command commander Gen. Douglas Fraser said he is “disappointed by the entire incident and that this behavior is not in keeping with the professional standards expected of members of the United States military.
As I noted in a comment to Steven Taylor’s most recent post about this, the problems presented by what happened here go far beyond the fact that these agents became involved in prostitution, which happens to be legal in Cartagena. First of all, legalities aside, they potentially exposed themselves to blackmail. Second, they brought this women back to the hotel that the President would be arriving at in only 24 hours, this potentially creating a security breach. One doubts that these men will have a career with the agency after all of this is over.
