Panetta says U.S. will have ‘enduring presence’ in Afghanistan after drawdown

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7. Defense chief Panetta: Looming cuts would be ‘disastrous’

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Sunday that more than $500 billion in defense-related cuts scheduled to kick in early next year would be “disastrous” to national security and begged lawmakers to restore the money.

The cuts were included in last summers bipartisan debt and budget agreement that allowed the White House to raise the debt ceiling. Since then, members of Congress from both parties have pushed to undo the Pentagon’s portion of the $1.2 trillion “sequestration” budget cuts that also target nondefense domestic programs.

“I think what both Republicans and Democrats need to do, and the leaders of both sides, is to recognize that if sequester takes place, it would be disastrous for our national defense, and very frankly, for a lot of very important domestic programs,” Mr. Panetta said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“They have a responsibility to come together and find the money necessary to de-trigger sequester.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/27/defense-chief-panetta-looming-cuts-would-be-disast/