Posts Tagged Leon Panetta

Afghanistan: Moving Toward a Distant Endgame

From STRATFOR:

By George Friedman

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta suggested last week that the United States could wrap up combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2013, well before the longstanding 2014 deadline when full control is to be ceded to Kabul. Troops would remain in Afghanistan until 2014, as agreed upon at the 2010 Lisbon Summit, and would be engaged in two roles until at least 2014 and perhaps even later. One role would be continuing the training of Afghan security forces. The other would involve special operations troops carrying out capture or kill operations against high-value targets.

Along with this announcement, the White House gave The New York Times some details on negotiations that have been under way with the Taliban. According to the Times, Mullah Mohammad Omar, the senior-most leader of the Afghan Taliban, last summer made overtures to the White House offering negotiations. An intermediary claiming to speak for Mullah Omar delivered the proposal, an unsigned document purportedly from Mullah Omar that could not be established as authentic. The letter demanded the release of some Taliban prisoners before any talks. In spite of the ambiguities, which included a recent public denial by the Taliban that the offer came from Mullah Omar, U.S. officials, obviously acting on other intelligence, regarded the proposal as both authentic and representative of the views of the Taliban leadership and, in all likelihood, those of Mullah Omar, too. Read the rest of this entry »

, , , ,

No Comments

Panetta Warns Of Defense Cuts

From National Journal:

He went even further on Thursday, using arguably the strongest rhetorical weapon in his arsenal. Mandatory defense cuts, he warned, would weaken the armed forces to the point that enemies would be emboldened to attack the U.S.

“In effect, it invites aggression,” Panetta said during the new conference, just his second since taking office in July.

, , , , ,

No Comments

CIA officer Darren James LaBonte

This is photo provided by family shows Darren James LaBonte, 35, in Afghanistan in 2007. LaBonte was one of seven CIA employees who died when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a U.S. base in Khost, Afghanistan

“LaBonte grew up in Connecticut. He played baseball and football at Brookfield High School. He turned down a shot at professional baseball with the Cleveland Indians when he graduated from high school in 1992 and opted for the Army, said his father, a former Navy SEAL.

LaBonte earned the celebrated black and yellow Ranger patch and was assigned to First Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, one of the toughest units.”

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2010/06/05/4467370-veil-of-secrecy-shrouding-dead-cia-officer-lifted

From a statement by CIA Director Leon E. Panetta in December 2009:
“Yesterday’s tragedy reminds us that the men and women of the CIA put their lives at risk every day to protect this nation,” Director Panetta said. “Throughout our history, the reality is that those who make a real difference often face real danger.”

https://www.cia.gov/news-information/press-releases-statements/cia-casualties-in-afghanistan.html

, , , , , ,

No Comments