Quotes from Leon Panetta

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

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

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.

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.

You know, one thing I've learned over 40 years is that when you have jobs in Washington, you do it day by day and that's what I'm doing as secretary of defense.

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

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

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

I mean, the Taliban, my view is that they have been weakened. We have not seen them able to conduct any kind of organized attack to regain any territory that they've lost. We've seen levels of violence going down.

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.

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.

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.

The Taliban is resilient.

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

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

When you cut a half-a-trillion dollars from the defense budget, it affects almost every area in the defense budget.

I suddenly realized at the CIA that I had to make life-and-death decisions about people.

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.

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

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

Frankly, my fundamental beliefs have not changed.

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.

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

My whole life has been dedicated to public service.