Panetta: Don't jump to conclusions on Gen. Allen

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta during news conference in Perth, Australia Wednesday / Pool,AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Updated 6 a.m. ET

PERTH, Australia Defense Secretary Leon Panetta cautioned Wednesday against reaching early conclusions about the veracity of allegations against the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, who is under investigation for what Pentagon officials have said may be "inappropriate" correspondence with a Florida woman linked to the David Petraeus sex scandal.

At a news conference in Australia's Indian Ocean coastal city of Perth, Panetta sought to tamp down a wave of speculation about the nature of Allen's actions, which have added a new dimension to the Petraeus matter.

"No one should leap to any conclusions here," Panetta said in his first public comments on the matter when a reporter asked what Allen might have done wrong. Panetta declined to characterize Allen's actions in any way.

Panetta said he supports Allen, who has been in command in Kabul since July 2011. He took over that summer for Petraeus, who retired from the Army to head the CIA.

"He certainly has my continued confidence to lead our forces and to continue the fight," Panetta said.

The head of NATO also expressed faith in Allen on Wednesday. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels that he has "full confidence" in Allen.

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The Pentagon chief declined to explain the nature of Allen's correspondence with Jill Kelley, the Florida socialite connected to the scandal that led to Petraeus' resignation last week as director of the CIA.

One defense official told CBS News the communications were "flirtatious."

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who appeared with Panetta and their Australian counterparts at Wednesday's news conference, declined to comment on the Allen case except to suggest it has not harmed the war effort.

She said U.S. officials have discussed the matter with allied officials.

"There has been a lot of conversation, as you might expect, but no concern whatsoever being expressed to us because the mission has been set forth and it's being carried out," Clinton said.

Panetta announced Tuesday while flying to Australia that he had ordered the Defense Department's inspector general to investigate Allen based on material referred to the Pentagon on Sunday by the FBI.

Allen told Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that he is innocent of misconduct, according to Col. David Lapan, Dempsey's spokesman.

Lapan said Wednesday that Dempsey called Allen on Tuesday from Perth, where Dempsey attended meetings with Panetta. Dempsey has not commented publicly.

Panetta also announced Tuesday that the Obama administration put on hold Allen's nomination to be the next commander of U.S. European Command and the top NATO general. Allen's Senate confirmation hearing was to have been held Thursday.

Panetta said in Perth that putting a hold on the nomination was the "prudent" thing to do.

Allen, who was in Washington when Panetta announced the investigation and has not yet returned to his headquarters in Kabul, has not publicly commented on the matter.

One senior official told CBS News correspondent David Martin that the vast majority of the emails between Allen and Tampa socialite Jill Kelley "are completely innocuous," and he thinks many of them are duplicates. He said that in some of the emails Kelley would say, "Saw you on television and you were terrific," and Allen would write back with, "Thanks, sweetheart." The official also added that the two never discussed sex and that Allen had never been alone with Kelley.

[BULLYDOGGE1]

A tent doesn't exist that's large enough for this multi-ring circus. The unfortunate aspect of this national parade is the fact that the American citizenry is at the end of it with brooms, shovels and barrels.

[andie52]

The only scandal related to Benghazi is how the GOP tried to politicize the deaths of Americans there for political gain

[omnibus66]

NEWS FLASH: Military men have sexual desires.

So how does that make them any different from the other 3.6 billion males on the planet? Answer: It doesn't. Studies show that at least 28% of men admit to fooling around by the time they reach 60, and the true number is probably a lot higher. It's human nature, and pretending to be shocked by it is just plain stupid.

[Rick03466]

This is just one more reflection of an Administration that can not or will not police it's own house , A Treasury Secretary that can't or Won't Pay his own taxes, A Attorney General who has 3 agencies sell guns to Drug Cartels (258 dead is the official body Count to Date) a CIA director who has an Affair that leads to hi Email Being Hacked. A State Department that leaves an Ambassador to get killed in a 9/11 attack and blames it on a Internet Movie.
Think media Prejudice got this guy re-elected?

[bobnjersey]

[This is just one more reflection of an Administration that can not or will not police it's own house ]
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has anyone shot their hunting partner in the face w/ a shotgun yet?

[derickwh]

So, a General can't send "flirty" emails to some woman, but is was ok for President Clinton to receive oral sex in the West Wing? I don't get it....

[aouterbridge]

Why can't we just leave this great man alone. The mere fact that he calls some lady a sweetheart, does that mean he is guilty of wrong doing or jeopardizing the safety of the nation. It can simply be a habit to call some lady a sweetheart. I have said that many times without even thinking. I don't believe he had any ill intentions at all.

Any ill intentions seems to be from Jill Kelley and the Paula Broadwell. Those two sweethearts are some devious gold-diggers

[cedaredge]

CBS writers have a problem:

"Australia Defense Secretary Leon Panetta"

[joesapper]

The higher Rank in file is being pushed out , good or bad ?

Well that is bad in my books , who is the new flood of voices of leadership ? These Guys facing the finger pointing are not being charged , just pushed out , well I guess the the turnkey is applied to the Libya lock of a choke hold . This Libya thing is like weeds , all the slashing will only increase the crop .

[mississippian2]

"Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who appeared with Panetta and their Australian counterparts at Wednesday's news conference, declined to comment on the Allen case except to suggest it has not harmed the war effort."

Think how much time Gen. Allen spent sending 30,000 pages of sexy e-mails over the last 2 years. I think this was a substantial distraction that would have harmed the war effort.

[bobnjersey]

[Allen spent sending 30,000 e-mails ... I think this was a substantial distraction that would have harmed the war effort.]
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but he sent 300,000 emails to the taliban telling them to stop ... so it seems insignificant.

[robert1129]

If we are going to hold lower ranking officers to a certain code of conduct and punish them if they do not adhere to that code, then Allen and Petreous have to also be held to that code. But if nothing criminal went on then it is strictly an affair for the families involved.