Leon Panetta

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Panetta Pays Coach Fare for $30K Flights Home

Defense secretary required to travel on military jets

(Newser) - Leon Panetta usually heads home to California for the weekend, and the defense chief is racking up huge costs in cross-country travel, reports the Washington Times . Panetta has made the journey 14 times since taking the post in July, and the Times says each round trip in a military jet...

Panetta Gets $10K Wine for Nabbing bin Laden

California restaurateur made a bet with then-CIA chief

(Newser) - This New Year’s Eve, Leon Panetta will know the sweet taste of victory, thanks to a bet he made with California restaurateur Ted Balestreri. The Panettas and about 28 others were dining with Balestreri in his wine cellar last New Year’s, when someone asked after the restaurant’s...

US to Pakistan: Take Out Haqqani

Or we will; rhetoric increasing in wake of embassy attack

(Newser) - US officials have been sending Pakistan an increasingly sharp message in recent days: Take out the Haqqani Taliban network, or we will. Pakistan’s intelligence service has a longstanding relationship with the Haqqani network—Adm. Mike Mullen described it as a “proxy connection”—but after a series of...

Costly News: US Military's Equipment Is 'Geriatric'

Average F-15 is 25 years old

(Newser) - Precious few Americans drive cars manufactured in 1964—the same isn't true of the US Air Force. The average age of an Air Force plane ranges from 25 years for an F-15 to 47 years for refueling aircraft, the Wall Street Journal reports in a look at a pricey...

Pentagon Eyes Huge Military Retirement Overhaul

Switching to 401(K)-style plan could save $250B

(Newser) - The Pentagon is considering a major overhaul of the military pension system that would save $250 billion over 20 years. Under the proposal, the system in which service members can retire after 20 years with half their salary would be replaced by a 401(K)-style plan, CBS reports. Service members would...

Panetta: Debt Deal Trigger Puts America in Danger

$1T in Pentagon cuts 'completely unacceptable'

(Newser) - The Pentagon can't tighten its belt any further without putting America in danger, Leon Panetta warns. The defense secretary says major cuts beyond the $350 billion outlined in the debt ceiling deal are "completely unacceptable" and could do "real damage " to national security, the New York ...

Adm. Mullen: For Smooth Iraq Withdrawal, 'Now Is the Time'

Further delay of Iraq government's decision could jeopardize smooth transition

(Newser) - Iraq's indecision on whether to ask American forces to stay beyond the end of the year is pushing the US close to the point where a smooth, safe troop withdrawal will be jeopardized, the top US military officer said today upon arriving in the country. Adm. Mike Mullen said...

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal to Be Certified by Leon Panetta
 Panetta to Certify DADT Repeal 
Jul 22, 2011 7:50 AM CDT

Panetta to Certify DADT Repeal

New defense chief to start 60-day repeal countdown

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will sign the death warrant for "Don't Ask Don't Tell" soon after he is officially sworn in today, according to Pentagon sources. Panetta and other defense chiefs will certify that the military is ready to ax the policy barring gays from serving openly,...

Panetta to Iraq: Decide on US Troop Extension

Defense secretary makes unannounced visit to Baghdad

(Newser) - Fresh from his visit to Afghanistan, the AP is reporting that Leon Panetta made a surprise appearance in Baghdad today. The newly minted defense chief is looking to press the Iraqis to get off the fence on whether they want residual US forces to remain in the country after...

Leon Panetta: al-Qaeda Defeat 'Within Reach'

Terror group is down to 20 or so key leaders

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda, lately without its late leader Osama bin Laden, is on the ropes and defeat of the terror group is "within reach," Leon Panetta said today. En route to his first trip to Afghanistan since taking office, the new defense secretary told reporters that intelligence from Abbottabad indicated...

Meet the Agent Who Found bin Laden

The story of the unsung CIA man who hunted the leader for a decade

(Newser) - By now, you’ve seen the photo of Obama administration brass awaiting word of the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound. What you haven’t seen is the CIA agent standing just outside the frame, a man the AP identifies only as “John.” He spent years doggedly...

Senate OKs Panetta as Defense Chief, 100-0

He will replace Robert Gates at end of the month

(Newser) - The Senate today uanimously approved the nomination of Leon Panetta to be the next defense chief, handing him a crowded agenda of overseeing the drawdown of US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, tamping down congressional unrest over the Libyan conflict, and cutting the budget. Panetta will replace Defense Secretary Robert...

Pakistan Busts CIA's bin Laden Informants

Army major among arrested informants who aided US: NYT

(Newser) - The reward for at least five Pakistanis for helping the CIA find terror boss Osama bin Laden was to be arrested by their nation's military spy agency. The New York Times reports that those busted include a man who owned a safe house in Abbottabad from which CIA agents...

What's With Live-Feed Blackout During Raid?

Live Feed Goes Dark for 24 Minutes, Panetta reveals

(Newser) - More questions are arising about the US raid on Osama bin Laden's compound as CIA director Leon Panetta indicated that there was a video feed blackout during the critical confrontation with the al-Qaeda leader, reports the Telegraph . Live-feed cameras mounted on the helmets of the US fighters apparently switched...

Obama Cooling to Idea of Releasing Osama Death Pics

Leon Panetta says yes, Robert Gates and Hillary Clinton say no

(Newser) - Yes, yes, no, who knows? Though CIA Director Leon Panetta indicated photos of a dead Osama bin Laden would likely be released—“I think we have to reveal to the rest of the world the fact that we were able to get him and kill him”— ABC News...

Leon Panetta: Pakistan Might Have Alerted Osama

And Obama didn't actually watch him being killed

(Newser) - Pakistan was told nothing about the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, because the CIA thought “any effort to work with the Pakistanis could jeopardize the mission,” Leon Panetta told Time yesterday. “They might alert the target.” The statement is likely to deepen the speculation swirling...

Cash Sewn Into Clothes, Osama Was Ready to Run

Al-Qaeda leader also had phone numbers sewn into clothes

(Newser) - Osama bin Laden was carrying cash and telephone numbers, indicating that he was prepared to escape his compound at any moment. Top US intelligence officials told Congress yesterday that bin Laden had 500 euros (about $740) as well as two phone numbers sewn into his clothing. Three sources who attended...

Lines Blur in War, Spying
 Lines Blur in War, Spying 
Apr 28, 2011 7:26 AM CDT

Lines Blur in War, Spying

Which explains the Panetta-Petraeus shake-up

(Newser) - Today, President Obama is expected to announce that CIA director Leon Panetta will become secretary of defense, and that David Petraeus will slide into his old job. That’s a pretty startling illustration of just how far the lines between spies and soldiers have blurred over the past year, the...

Panetta Moves to Pentagon, Petraeus to Helm CIA

According to AP sources

(Newser) - The big security shakeups are out, by way of unidentified AP sources, and as predicted , Leon Panetta is in as the new secretary of defense, succeeding Robert Gates. Gen. David Petraeus will be nominated to fill Panetta's shoes as CIA director. Five-time ambassador Ryan Crocker, who retired in 2009...

Petraeus in the Running to Head CIA

And Leon Panetta might replace Robert Gates

(Newser) - David Petraeus's stint as commander in Afghanistan is set to end by early fall, and his next stop just might be Langley. Government officials tell NPR that Petraeus is being seriously considered as the next head of the CIA, and that he’d accept the position if offered. Current CIA...

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