Military law means that if CIA Director David Petraeus began his affair with biographer Paula Broadwell while he was serving in Afghanistan – while he was General David Petraeus – he can be prosecuted. Petraeus’ former aide, Peter Mansoor, acknowledged, “For him to allow the very first biography to be written about him, to be written by someone who had never written a book before, seemed very odd to me.”

Under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, it is still possible to prosecute members of the military who involve themselves in behavior “of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.”

It is unclear that Petraeus would actually be prosecuted in any case.