In every nation's army, there are regulations and then there are realities when it comes to affairs of the heart.
There is, for example, the matter of adultery.
Armies frown upon it. Or even deem it a crime. The Pentagon has struggled with whether and how to discipline officers for adulterous relationships, and how to explain the wide variation in punishments.
But the subject seems far less troubling to other nations' military establishments, as reported by members of The Sun's foreign staff:
GREAT BRITAIN
"We don't kick people out for that sort of thing," says a spokesman for Britain's Defense Ministry.
The tradition of relative tolerance goes back at least to the time of Lord Horatio Nelson, the British admiral who in 1805 defeated the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar, at the cost of his life.
Nelson was already famous for other military exploits -- and for having an affair with Lady Hamilton, wife of the British ambassador to Naples.
But adultery is one of the subjects addressed by official British army regulations.
"It is essential," the regulations say, "that military personnel are not worried about the integrity of their marriages at any time, but especially when deployed away from their home base."
They add that family morale depends on the knowledge that extramarital relationships "will be considered unacceptable."
Married or single officers who engage in adulterous affairs "jeopardize their status as an officer should the circumstances of the affair become public, and if it brings either the officer or the Army into disrepute."
Each case that becomes known to authorities is treated individually, and counseling may be provided in an effort to preserve a marriage, the Defense Ministry spokesman says.
If the adulterous affair occurs on board a ship, one of the pair would likely be transferred.
"One of the aims is to monitor trends in society and to maintain a realistic link with what is going on outside and how it is reconciled with the military ethos and the special requirements of military services," the spokesman says.
In 1994, Sir Peter Harding, the chief of the Royal Air Force defense staff, resigned after a British newspaper published a photograph of him in the arms of an actress on the steps of a London hotel.
In the country's most notorious sex scandal of the post-World War II era, John Profumo, secretary of state for war, resigned from Parliament after admitting he had lied to the House of Commons over his affair with Christine Keeler, a former showgirl who was also linked with a Soviet diplomat.
ISRAEL
The Israeli military has strict rules against fraternization between commanders and subordinates but no prohibition against adultery.
It also has a famously amorous chief of staff in its past -- Moshe Dayan, defense minister during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Dayan had an extramarital affair in 1959, and eventually the whole country would learn of it.
His affair involved Hadassah Mor, the wife of an officer who was a boyhood friend of Dayan's.
According to Shabta Teveth, a biographer of then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, Dayan was involved in the affair when he had finished his tour as chief of staff and was clearly heading toward political life with Ben-Gurion, in the party called Mapai.
"The gossip among the politicians embellished his real escapades with imaginary ones," said Teveth. "And in 1959, they learned about his love affair with Hadassah Mor."
Dayan's enemies suggested that someone who cheats on his wife could cheat on his party.
Mor's husband wrote Ben-Gurion, asking how the prime minister could support Dayan.
Ben-Gurion wrote back that he made a distinction between a man's intimate life and his public life.
He pointed out that King David had an affair with Bathsheba, and he reminded Mor's husband of Lord Nelson and his affair with Lady Hamilton.
Everything Dayan did in his public life, Ben-Gurion said, was characterized by skillfulness and self-sacrifice.
The military still considers private life just that -- mostly private.
"In principle, the army doesn't enter its commanders' bedrooms," says Ran Goren, former head of personnel for the Israel Defense forces.
But the army is very clear about a relationship between a commander and a subordinate -- it is considered unacceptable.
"There are many things in life where there is a question of interpretation. You can't define everything down to the end of laws," Goren says.
"If there is a sign of taking advantage of authority -- even if the soldier is not a direct subordinate -- the mere fact that the person has authority, because of his seniority, that is a violation of the orders."
Efraim Inbar, professor of political science at Bar Ilan University, says American attitudes seem "prudish."
"It's unbelievable how America makes such a fuss of this," Inbar says. "The United States is a very permissive and promiscuous society. For the military to enforce ethics is absurd.
"As long as the Army functions well, forget about it."
RUSSIA
