Leon Panetta, tapped by President Obama to succeed Robert Gates as defense secretary, attempted to dodge the most critical question facing the military and the administration right now during his nomination hearing Thursday.
Panetta faced a barrage of questions about the upcoming drawdown of troops in Afghanistan after signaling that he backed the President’s call for a “significant” reduction of U.S. troops beginning in July.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) asked Panetta, who heads the CIA, whether he agreed with the president that the pending withdrawal should be “significant.”
“I agree with the President’s statement,” said Panetta, adding that he believes the reduction of troops should be “responsible” and “conditions-based.”
Those comments could put him in direct opposition with outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ call for a modest draw-down.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) wasted little time in pressing Panetta on the matter, growing frustrated at times with the vague responses.
Panetta declined to state “specific numbers” but said that conditions on the ground would shape that decision.
“I wasn’t asking you for specific numbers,” McCain retorted.
“We have made progress with regards to security in that country, albeit fragile and reversible,” said Panetta, who is a shoo-in to win Senate confirmation and was roundly praised by senators on the panel, including McCain, for his tenure as CIA chief and his commitment to public service for more than 40 years of his life.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said he believed Obama made a “courageous” decision at the end of 2009 to send 30,000 more U.S. troops into Afghanistan with the promise that the U.S. would begin the transition to leave in July of 2011 with the goal of leaving entirely by 2014.
Lieberman then asked whether he would adhere to the standard of drawing down troops only so much that it does not reverse any gains that have been made in achieving more stability for the country.
“There’s no question,” Panetta said. “We ought not to take any steps that would reverse the gains that we’ve made.”
When it comes to finding and killing Osama bin Laden, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) gave Panetta high marks, saying Panetta would be the first to give credit to the intelligence and military communities but “without strong leadership at the top, it would not have been successful.”
But any reduction in troops, Chambliss said, makes no sense to him because Afghanistan has a weak central government, is far from stabilized and cannot provide for its own security needs.
If it became clear, from an operational perspective, that the withdrawal is reversing progress in these key areas, would Panetta try to stop the drawdown and send additional forces back to the country, Chambliss asked.
Panetta again repeated that any withdrawal would have to be “conditions-based,” but if there were serious problems after some troops left, “the President and the defense secretary would have to make adjustments.”
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