Posted on 07/09/2011 8:42:50 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Panetta Says Defeat of Al Qaeda ‘Within Reach’ By ELISABETH BUMILLER
KABUL, Afghanistan — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, who arrived in Kabul on Saturday, said that the United States was “within reach of strategically defeating Al Qaeda” and that the American focus had narrowed to capturing or killing 10 to 20 crucial leaders of the terrorist group in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.
Mr. Panetta, who took over as defense secretary from Robert M. Gates on July 1, made his comments aboard his plane before arriving on an unannounced trip to Kabul, the Afghan capital.
They were Mr. Panetta’s first public remarks as defense secretary and among the most positive from a senior American national security official about the decade-old war against the terrorist organization, founded by Osama bin Laden, which was responsible for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Mr. Panetta, who as director of the Central Intelligence Agency ran the American commando raid that killed Bin Laden in Pakistan on May 2, said that one of his goals was to defeat Al Qaeda.
“Obviously we made an important start with that in getting rid of Bin Laden,” Mr. Panetta said. “But I was convinced in my capacity and I’m convinced in this capacity that we’re within reach of strategically defeating Al Qaeda. And I’m hoping to be able to focus on that, working obviously with my prior agency as well.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Naivete is not a good trait in a leader.
We’re turning the corner.....
I call BS on Panetta.
Yeah... that’s why Obammy is negotiating with them.
What’s Leon been smokin’?
This from the guy getting his intel from newspapers.
Geeeeez, come on, its from the NYT. Its news from Der Stürmer/Pravda of the Democrat Party.
I’d like to hear what his definition of “Al Qaeda” is.
The light at the end of the tunnel just might be an oncoming train...
What he’s not saying is that Al Queda will lose because they will be subsumed as a culture within the confines of current American Government. Their new leader is Obama
He’s talking about the war on terror the same way obama is talking about the economy
victory is just over the horizon
really!
still and all, it is nice to see liberals armed with a militarized CIA and fleets of predators killing known or suspected muslim fanatics with intelligence gained from freestyle wiretapping, over the international borders of countries with whom we are not at war
without even reading them their Miranda rights
I thought Mr. Panetta was smarter than to make such a stupid statement.....
Of course, maybe the hand controlling his puppet head was just invisible when he uttered that remark.
That’s kind of like saying “I pulled up the 10 biggest weeds in my yard. Therfore, I am victorious!”
*************
Talk is cheap, Mr. Secretary....
Turn our forces loose -- stay out of the way...
Watch them make your prediction look good in short order! JMHO...
Then I look forward to the demise of the TSA.
Horse crap.
NYT: “Mr. Panetta, who as director of the Central Intelligence Agency ran the American commando raid that killed Bin Laden ...”
Wait a second! The Associated Pimps said Commander Zero led that mission ....
Another ACORN-style BS.
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