Obama Administration Defense Priorities
Secretary of Defense Panetta's Statement on Strategic Guidance
The U.S. military’s mission in Iraq has now ended. We do have continued progress in Afghanistan. It’s tough, and it remains challenging, but we are beginning to enable a transition to Afghan security responsibility. The NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] effort in Libya has concluded with the fall of [Moammar] Gadhafi. And targeted counterterrorism efforts have significantly weakened Al Qaeda and decimated its leadership. And now, as these events are occurring, the Congress has mandated, by law, that we achieve significant defense savings. So clearly, we are at a turning point. But even as our large-scale military campaigns recede, the…
