[Paleopsych] NYT: General Disobeyed Orders to End Affair, Officials Say

[Premise Checker]

General Disobeyed Orders to End Affair, Officials Say
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/13/politics/13general.html

[I have googled <general byrnes conspiracy> and got thousands of hits, 
including the one from Prison Planet about a military coup involving Byrnes. 
Welcome to Paranoid Nation! My more mundane idea is that Byrnes was a 
dissident, that he was watched extra closely, and that an extra-marital affair 
was turned up, something that would ordinarily be overlooked, esp. when the man 
was about to get divorced.]

    By DAVID S. CLOUD

    WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 - A four-star general relieved of his command this
    week for adultery was ordered last January to break off the affair but
    continued to have contact with the woman, two senior Army officials
    said on Friday.

    A major reason the general, Kevin P. Byrnes, was dismissed as head of
    the Army Training and Doctrine Command was that the inspector general
    found that he had violated the direct order from the Army chief of
    staff, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, said the officials, who spoke on the
    condition of anonymity because the case is still being adjudicated.

    Army officials disclosed the details of the inspector general's
    inquiry to explain the unusual decision to relieve a four-star officer
    with a distinguished record.

    The order to break off contact with the woman, whose identity has not
    been made public, came after the inspector general began an inquiry
    into an accusation that General Byrnes was involved in an adulterous
    affair, the officials said.

    General Schoomaker told him to cease contacts with the woman until the
    inspector general completed the inquiry, the officials said. But the
    inspector general later found that General Byrnes continued to make
    telephone calls to her, although the officials would not say if the
    contacts went beyond calls.

    "He was told to knock it off, and he ignored it and continued the
    affair," a senior Army official said.

    Several Army officers said they considered the punishment surprisingly
    harsh for a general who was nearing retirement.

    The Army officials also disclosed that another senior officer, Gen.
    Dan K. McNeill, has been appointed to determine if any additional
    action should be taken against General Byrnes. Possible penalties
    range from a reprimand to a court-martial.

    General Byrnes faces uncertainty over whether his rank will be reduced
    to major general, with a resulting loss of retirement benefits.

    The Army's Manual on Court Martial describes adultery as "unacceptable
    conduct," and Army officials say that it is barred under a provision
    of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that prohibits bringing
    discredit on the military.

    General Byrnes separated from his wife, Carol, in mid-2004, but the
    couple did not divorce until earlier this month.

    A lawyer for General Byrnes, Lt. Col. David H. Robertson, said
    Wednesday that the general had been relieved because of an accusation
    about "a consensual, adult relationship." The statement said the
    person was a female civilian.