美洲峯會曝性醜聞 奧巴馬特工召妓不給錢大綱

Defense chiefs are "embarrassed" over a sex scandal involving Secret Service agents and military service members as it distracted from President Barack Obama's visit to Colombia, the US military's top officer said.

His comments came as the Pentagon revealed the extent of the case was wider than initially reported, with more than five military service members implicated.

The incident served as a distraction that overshadowed "a very important" presidential visit, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news conference.

"We are embarrassed," said Dempsey, referring to fellow chiefs of the armed forces.

"So we let the boss down, because nobody's talking about what went on in Colombia other than this incident."

A military investigation would hold accountable any personnel that "violated orders or policies or laws," Dempsey said.

The incident saw 11 Secret Service and at least five military personnel pulled from their security duties in Cartagena, Colombia at the Summit of the Americas.

The US Secret Service, which has sent the men back to the United States, is investigating claims they brought prostitutes to their hotel rooms in Cartagena late Wednesday and had a dispute over payment with one of the women.

"Whether our forces are in Colombia or any other country, or here in this country, we expect them to abide by the highest standard of behavior. That's a requirement," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told the same press conference. "And for that reason, we are conducting a full investigation into this matter."

A Pentagon spokesman said the service members who are under investigation were not handling security for the US president but were performing important work in support of the Secret Service.

"We believe that there maybe more than five involved in this incident. I don't have specific numbers. We're going to look at the facts wherever they may go," spokesman George Little told reporters.

The personnel were from more than one branch of the military, and some of them were at the same hotel as other Secret Service agents alleged to have brought prostitutes to their rooms, he said.美軍高級官員稱，國防部領導人對奧巴馬總統訪問哥倫比亞期間曝出的美國特工和軍人性醜聞“感到尷尬”。

在該官員發表評論的同時，美國國防部透露這起醜聞比最初報道的牽連更廣，涉嫌的軍方人員超過5人。

美國參謀長聯席會議主席馬丁•鄧普賽將軍在一個新聞發佈會上說，這一干擾性事件使 “一次非常重要的”總統訪問黯然失色。

鄧普賽說：“我們都感到很尷尬。”他指的是他和軍隊中的其他首腦。

“我們讓總統失望了，因爲現在大家都在談論這一醜聞，全然把哥倫比亞峯會拋在腦後。”

鄧普賽說：“軍方調查將讓任何‘違犯命令、政策或法規的’人員承擔責任。”

在這起醜聞事件中，將有11名特工和至少5名軍方人員被解除在哥倫比亞卡塔赫納的美洲峯會上的安保職務。

美國特工處已經將這些人送回美國，目前正對他們進行調查。據稱這些人週三晚上在卡塔赫納酒店中召妓，並和其中一位妓女發生報酬糾紛。

國防部部長萊昂•帕內塔在同一個新聞發佈會上說：“不管我們的軍隊是在哥倫比亞還是在其他國家，或是在自己的國家，我們都期望他們遵守最高行爲標準。這是要求。爲此我們正全面調查此事。”

一位國防部發言人稱，接受調查的軍方人員沒有負責美國總統的安保工作，但也從事着支持特工部的重要工作。

發言人喬治•裏特告訴記者說：“我們認爲此事牽涉的軍人可能在5人以上。我不知道具體數字。不管涉案人數多少，我們都將查清事實。”

他說，這些軍人來自軍隊的多個分支，部分軍人和據稱召妓的特工住在同一個酒店。