She is smart. She is principled. She is tough, and she is ready. Hillary is the single most experienced and prepared person who has ever run for president. – Leon Panetta
An aggressor nation or extremist group could gain control of critical switches and derail passenger trains, or trains loaded with lethal chemicals. – Leon Panetta
When you cut a half-a-trillion dollars from the defense budget, it affects almost every area in the defense budget. – Leon Panetta
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. – Leon Panetta
The United States, and the president’s made this clear, does not want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. That’s a red line for us. And it’s a red line obviously for the Israelis so we share a common goal here. – Leon Panetta
I think soon after I became director of the CIA – President Obama pulled me into the Oval Office and said: ‘Look, I just want you to know that your top priority is to go after Osama bin Laden.’ – Leon Panetta
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. That’s really the measure of success for the United States. – Leon Panetta
You know, as director of the CIA, I got an awful lot of intelligence about all the horrible things that could go on across the world. – Leon Panetta
I don’t usually comment on columnists’ ideas of what I’m thinking. That’s a dangerous game to get into. – Leon Panetta
In this century, the 21st century, the U.S. recognizes our prosperity and our security depends even more on the Asia-Pacific region. – 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
These days, it takes only seconds – seconds – for a picture, a photo, to suddenly become an international headline. – Leon Panetta
When you’re smaller and leaner, you’re not going to have that large a presence throughout the world. – Leon Panetta
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. – Leon Panetta
I think what both Republicans and Democrats need to do and the leaders on both sides is to recognize that if sequester takes place, it would be disastrous for our national defense and very frankly for a lot of very important domestic programs. They have a responsibility to come together, find the money necessary to de-trigger sequester. – Leon Panetta
I think the primary message to the world is that the United States is going to remain the strongest military power in the world. – Leon Panetta
The American Dream has been defended, in every generation, by the brave men and women willing to fight and die for America. They are our greatest national treasure. They deserve a serious Commander-in-Chief. – Leon Panetta
Today, I think the attitude is that governing is not necessarily good politics, and the result is that it’s much more partisan and much more divided. – Leon Panetta
Well, you know, any defense force worth its salt has to be able to deal with uncertainty, has to be able to deal with events that we may not have planned for. – Leon Panetta