Leon Panetta
Leon Panetta
Leon Edward Panettais an American statesman, lawyer, and professor. He served in the Obama administration as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2011, and as Secretary of Defense from 2011 to 2013. A Democrat, Panetta was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993, served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget from 1993 to 1994, and as President Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997. He is...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth28 June 1938
CityMonterey, CA
CountryUnited States of America
I don't usually comment on columnists' ideas of what I'm thinking. That's a dangerous game to get into.
I mean, the Taliban, my view is that they have been weakened.
I suddenly realized at the CIA that I had to make life-and-death decisions about people.
I think the primary message to the world is that the United States is going to remain the strongest military power in the world.
If the Iraqis fail to implement the reforms, if they fail to get a handle on the violence, there's nothing the United States can do, militarily or otherwise, that can solve those problems. They have to assume the primary responsibility to govern themselves.
The one thing that I remember from all of my intelligence briefings and my dealings with the Russians is that when you deal with the Russians, you have to deal with them from strength, not from weakness.
Rather than undermining the Palestinian Authority, it is in Israel's interests to strengthen it by... continuing to transfer Palestinian tax revenues and pursuing other avenues of cooperation.
Rising sea levels, severe draughts, the melting of the polar caps, the more frequent and devastating natural disasters all raise demand for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
The United States will do whatever we have to do to protect our forces.
The terrorism from 9/11 has metastasized. It's metastasized in Iraq and Syria, in Nigeria, in Somalia, in Yemen and in other places in North Africa. We need a very comprehensive strategy to deal with that threat.
There's no question that the main location of Al Qaida is in tribal areas of Pakistan.
Throughout the 40 years I've been in Washington, I've always worked hard, particularly with regards to the budget issues.
When you cut a half-a-trillion dollars from the defense budget, it affects almost every area in the defense budget.
Caution is an important quality in a leader, but it has to be caution followed by decision. Caution followed by ambivalence can be a weakness.