Leon Panetta Quotes

I think the primary message to the world is that the United States is going to remain the strongest military power in the world.

Obama really does recognize the threats that are out there; I think he understands the world. He understands the role of America in that troubled world.

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.

During my time as CIA Director and Secretary of Defense, Hillary was a strong supporter of our efforts to protect our homeland, decimate al-Qaeda, and bring Osama bin Laden to justice.

In this century, the 21st century, the U.S. recognizes our prosperity and our security depends even more on the Asia-Pacific region.

I don't think there's any question that America is safer as a result of the bin Laden operation.

We are a nation at war. This is also a time for hard choices. It's about ensuring that we are able to prevail in the conflicts in which we are now engaged. But it's also about being able to be strong and disciplined in applying our nation's limited resources to defending America.

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.

Red lines are kind of political arguments that are used to try to put people in a corner.

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.'

I don't usually comment on columnists' ideas of what I'm thinking. That's a dangerous game to get into.

Caution is an important quality in a leader, but it has to be caution followed by decision. Caution followed by ambivalence can be a weakness.

Go forward, knowing that you are greater than the challenges of your time.

Russians understand strength, and if they feel that their opponents are weak, they will take advantage of it.

The consequence could be that we would have an escalation that would take place that would not only involve many lives, but I think it could consume the Middle East in a confrontation and a conflict that we would regret.

I want you and the people of Israel to know a few things that have not and will not change. The United States stands firmly with Israel, and we have a rock solid commitment to the security of Israel and to the security of its citizens.

The potential for the next Pearl Harbor could very well be a cyber-attack,

These days, it takes only seconds - seconds - for a picture, a photo, to suddenly become an international headline.

Clearly, Russia has lied to the world about what's going on in Ukraine. They have clearly violated the cease-fire agreements.

The area of climate change has a dramatic impact on national security.

When the president went around the table to the country's national security leadership, Hillary was clear: We have to go get bin Laden. And our Special Operations Forces did just that.

We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don't. There is no middle ground.

The reality is that the United States military alone cannot be all things to all nations. We will sharpen the application of our resources, better deploy our forces in the world and share our burdens more and more effectively with our partners. And frankly, all our allies need to do the same.

You don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on.

The United States was attacked on 9/11/12, and we know who attacked us.

The United States is going to defend itself under any circumstances.

My whole life has been dedicated to public service.

The president is out there today trying to talk about health care, and the reality is nobody cares about what he's saying on health care because this news is consuming everything. No president could tolerate that or should tolerate it.

The United States will do whatever we have to do to protect our forces.

If you're a terrorist, you're a terrorist.

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.

The Taliban is resilient.

Throughout the 40 years I've been in Washington, I've always worked hard, particularly with regards to the budget issues.

The fundamental premise is that neither the United States or the international community is going to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.

My impression is that Putin feels that he can basically manipulate the West to do what he ultimately wants to achieve, and that he feels he's gotten away with it so far, and that all he has to do is basically play the same game.

I'm not big on commissions.

Well, the United States is a Pacific power. And we have always had a presence in the Pacific.

Well look, CIA is an agency that has to collect intelligence, do operations. We have to take risks and it's 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 we're doing.

I'm going to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Companies should be able to share specific threat information with the government without the prospect of lawsuits hanging over their head.

My father said I was perfectly suited for Washington because I've always worked around nuts.

The United States has to have the capability to deal with more than one enemy at one time and be able to confront them and win.

When you're smaller and leaner, you're not going to have that large a presence throughout the world.

I don't think I should penalize people who were doing their duty.

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.

It doesn't make a lot of sense for us to borrow money from the Chinese to go give to another country for humanitarian aid. We ought to get the Chinese to take care of the people.

There's no question that the main location of Al Qaida is in tribal areas of Pakistan.

The terrorism from 9/11 has metastasized. It's metastasized in Iraq and Syria, in Nigeria, in Somalia, in Yemen and in other places in North Africa. We need a very comprehensive strategy to deal with that threat.

I don't engage in hypotheticals.

One demonstration of extremists, any more than a Ku Klux Klan demonstration in the United States, is not necessarily reflective of what the rest of the country feels.