In light of the recent sex scandal that brought down CIA chief David Petraeus, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has ordered a review of the ethics training program for senior officers, Pentagon officials reported on Thursday.  

The New York Times reported that: 

Mr. Panetta, who was in Bangkok to sign a new defense cooperation agreement with Thailand, directed the chairman, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, to determine whether the training programs were adequate and to report back in time for him to send an interim report to President Obama by Dec. 1.

“The fundamental mission of the Department of Defense is to protect the nation,” Mr. Panetta said in a memo to General Dempsey sent Wednesday. “Any behavior that negatively impacts our ability to perform that mission is unacceptable.”

Pentagon officials said that Mr. Panetta was not reacting to pressure from the White House and that the impetus for the review had come from him. They insisted that Mr. Panetta had planned the review of the ethics programs even before David H. Petraeus, a celebrated retired general,resigned as director of the Central Intelligence Agency on Friday because of an extramarital affair.

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