Leon Panetta talks to NPS and DLI about budget cuts, terrorism and cyberwar.

Leon Panetta struck a personal note during his first hometown visit as Secretary of Defense. 


In an Aug. 23 talk at the Naval Postgraduate School, Panetta recalled memories of washing dishing in his father’s Monterey restaurant in the ’40s, and of laying irrigation pipe and harvesting walnuts at the family’s Carmel Valley farm. His successor in Congress, Rep. Sam Farr (D-Carmel), introduced Panetta as “our native son.”


Now on the world stage as never before, Panetta spoke of Libya and the continuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. And he sees fronts growing in number, citing cyberterrorism as a leading concern. 


“I believe that this is the battlefield for the future,” he said. “We are now the target for literally hundreds of thousands of attacks every day. I truly believe that as this technology increases, the ability to terrorize this country is very real [and could] create the kind of paralysis that would indeed be comparable to a Pearl Harbor type of attack.” 


Even as the Department of Defense faces steep cuts, Panetta told 1,500 NPS faculty, students and staff that a high priority is respecting the troops: “One of the commitments I’ve made is to not break faith.” 


He followed his NPS visit with a talk at the Defense Language Institute.


Panetta ended his two-year tenure as director of the CIA in June, a month after special forces killed Osama bin Laden, and was sworn into the defense post July 1. He said he remains committed to good collaboration and the human element of intelligence. 


“We were never able to confirm the fact that bin Laden was there,” he said. “You have to take risks if you want to get any damn thing done.” 


View video excerpts of Panetta’s talk at www.mcweekly.com/panetta.