Winning in Afghanistan is having a country that is stable enough to ensure that there is no safe haven for Al Qaida or for a militant Taliban that welcomes Al Qaida. Thats really the measure of success for the United States. – Leon Panetta
Today, I think the attitude is that governing is not necessarily good politics, and the result is that its much more partisan and much more divided. – Leon Panetta
Well look, CIA is an agency that has to collect intelligence, do operations. We have to take risks and its important that we take risks and that we know that we have the support of the government and we have the support of the American people in what were doing. – Leon Panetta
After every major conflict – World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the fall of the Soviet Union – what happened was that we ultimately hollowed out the force, largely by doing deep across-the-board cuts. – Leon Panetta