Leon Panetta Supports Hillary Clinton Plan to Arm Syrian Rebels

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama rejected calls from four of the most senior members of his foreign policy team to arm the rebels fighting to overthrow the Syrian regime, it emerged on Thursday night.

Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, disclosed that he and the Pentagon supported a proposal by Hillary Clinton before she stood down as Secretary of State last week to supply rebel forces with weapons,

Gen Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, also agreed with Mrs Clinton's plan, which received the further backing of David Petraeus, Mr Obama's CIA director until late last year.

Answering questions at a Senate committee hearing, Mr Panetta became the first senior Western official publicly to propose arming the rebels to oust President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces are estimated to have killed 60,000 in a bloody civil war.

"How many more have to die before you recommend military action?" he was asked by John McCain, the veteran Arizona senator. "Did you support the recommendation by then-Secretary of State Clinton and then-head of CIA General Petraeus that we supply weapons to the resistance in Syria?"

"We do," answered Mr Panetta. "We did," added Gen Dempsey. » | Jon Swaine, Washington | Thursday, February 07, 2013

Anyone who wants to arm the Jihadist rebels has got to be stupid! – © Mark

La Corée du Nord continue de poser une "menace sérieuse"
LE MATIN: La Corée du Nord continue de poser de poser une "menace sérieuse" pour la sécurité dans la péninsule coréenne, a estimé mercredi le secrétaire américain à la Défense Leon Panetta à son arrivée en Corée du Sud, au lendemain de pourparlers avec Pyongyang sur le nucléaire.

La Corée du Nord continue de poser une "menace sérieuse" pour la sécurité dans la péninsule coréenne, a estimé mercredi le secrétaire américain à la Défense Leon Panetta à son arrivée en Corée du Sud, au lendemain de pourparlers avec Pyongyang sur le nucléaire.

"La Corée du Nord continue de poser une menace sérieuse (...). Pyongyang continue de défier la communauté internationale alors qu'il développe ses armes nucléaires et ses capacités balistiques", écrit le chef du Pentagone dans une tribune dans le quotidien sud-coréen Chosun Ilbo. » | AFP | mercredi 26 octobre 2011

Israel Partly to Blame for Growing Isolation in Region, Says US

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The United States has delivered an unusually blunt critique of Israel's foreign policy by claiming that Benjamin Netanyahu's government was partly responsible for its growing isolation in the region.

Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, suggested that Israel carried a portion of the blame for its deteriorating relationship with Turkey and Egypt, two vital allies whose ties with the Jewish state have become increasingly strained in recent weeks.

Speaking as he arrived in the Holy Land on Monday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Mr Panetta gave warning that Israel's dependence on its military dominance was not a sufficient safeguard given the dramatic shifts in the Middle East's political landscape in the wake of the Arab Spring.

"There's not much question in my mind that they maintain that (military) edge," he said. "But the question you have to ask is it enough to maintain a military edge if you're isolating yourself in the diplomatic arena.

"At this dramatic time in the Middle East, when there have been so many changes, it's not a good situation for Israel to become increasingly isolated. And that's what happening." » | Adrian Blomfield, Jerusalem | Monday, October 03, 2011

Revolution in Iran 'a Matter of Time'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Revolution in Iran is only a matter of time, Leon Panetta, the new United States defence secretary, has said as he predicted an uprising similar to those sweeping the Middle East.

Mr Panetta said the Iranian reform movement was learning from revolts which have erupted across the Arab world this year.

Mr Panetta, who left the top job in the CIA to become defence secretary in July, said there was "absolutely" the chance that protests and demands for reform would reach Iran.

He said: "I think we saw in evidence of that in the last election in Iran that there was a movement within Iran that raised those very same concerns that we're seeing elsewhere," "And I think in many ways, it's a matter of time before that kind of change and reform and revolution occurs in Iran as well." Tehran crushed mass street protests in the wake of Iran's disputed June 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. » | Ben Farmer | Wednesday, September 07, 2011

CIA Director Announces Visit to Dearborn, Mich.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: DEARBORN, Mich. - A planned visit by CIA Director Leon Panetta to a Detroit suburb with one of the nation's largest Arab populations is drawing criticism.

Panetta announced Tuesday he will attend an invitation-only dinner and speech with 150 leaders of the Arab and Muslim communities in Dearborn on Sept. 16.

But Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, tells The Detroit News officials chose "entirely wrong night" because it's the 27th night of Ramadan. He said that's when many devout Muslims and imams spend the entire night worshipping in the mosque.

Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Dearborn, said he and other community leaders should take the blame, not the CIA. [Source: Chicago Tribune] Associated Press | Wednesday, September 09, 2009