Leon Panetta Quotes

The United States has to be a leader in the world, because the problem is: If we are not leading, nobody else will.

The Taliban is resilient.

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

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

Caution is an important quality in a leader, but it has to be caution followed by decision. Caution followed by ambivalence can be a weakness.

The one thing that I remember from all of my intelligence briefings and my dealings with the Russians is that when you deal with the Russians, you have to deal with them from strength, not from weakness.

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

The fundamental premise is that neither the United States or the international community is going to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.

The consequence could be that we would have an escalation that would take place that would not only involve many lives, but I think it could consume the Middle East in a confrontation and a conflict that we would regret.

Frankly, my fundamental beliefs have not changed.

One of the principal qualities that you need as national security adviser is trust, the trust of the president. And that depends on truth and it depends on honesty.

We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don't. There is no middle ground.

China is a major power in the Pacific and I think we are dealing with some common threats in that region: the whole issue of Korea and the stability of Korea, the whole issue of nuclear proliferation, the whole issue of providing free access to our ships that are operating in that area.

In the zero-sum budget game, every dollar spent on this problem [illegal immigration] must be taken from somewhere else....No, we should not tolerate people immigrating illegally. But we need to treat this issue honestly and fairly.

I think my best advice would be to separate Donald Trump, the president of the United States from whatever investigation is being conducted by the FBI. I mean, there is something to be said, frankly, about the need for the appointment of an independent prosecutor because the American people are entitled to have a full review of what happened as a result of what the Russians did during our election.

My impression is that Putin feels that he can basically manipulate the West to do what he ultimately wants to achieve, and that he feels he's gotten away with it so far, and that all he has to do is basically play the same game.

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.

I know that young people sometimes, caught up in the moment, make some very foolish decisions.

Russians understand strength, and if they feel that their opponents are weak, they will take advantage of it.

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

Red lines are kind of political arguments that are used to try to put people in a corner.

My father said I was perfectly suited for Washington because I've always worked around nuts.

Clearly, Russia has lied to the world about what's going on in Ukraine. They have clearly violated the cease-fire agreements.

We have throughout our history been tested when it comes to the institutions of our democracy. And thank God our forefathers were smart enough to establish a government of checks and balances to make sure that power cannot be centralized in any one branch of government. And those institutions have proven themselves.

My whole life has been dedicated to public service.

Rising sea levels, severe draughts, the melting of the polar caps, the more frequent and devastating natural disasters all raise demand for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

I don't think I should penalize people who were doing their duty.

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.

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

I want you and the people of Israel to know a few things that have not and will not change. The United States stands firmly with Israel, and we have a rock solid commitment to the security of Israel and to the security of its citizens.

The reality is that the United States military alone cannot be all things to all nations. We will sharpen the application of our resources, better deploy our forces in the world and share our burdens more and more effectively with our partners. And frankly, all our allies need to do the same.

An aggressor nation or extremist group could gain control of critical switches and derail passenger trains, or trains loaded with lethal chemicals.

The White House was so eager to rid itself of Iraq that it was willing to withdraw rather than lock in arrangements that would preserve our influence and interests.

The political and substantive reality is that the agenda has to change. I don't think they have any choice.

The most important thing we can do is prosecute the offenders, deal with those that have broken the law and committed this crime. And if we can do that then we can begin to deal with this issue and send a signal this is not a problem that we are going to ignore in the United States military.

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

In this century, the 21st century, the U.S. recognizes our prosperity and our security depends even more on the Asia-Pacific region.

Well look, CIA is an agency that has to collect intelligence, do operations. We have to take risks and it's important that we take risks and that we know that we have the support of the government and we have the support of the American people in what we're doing.

I'm not big on commissions.

Obama really does recognize the threats that are out there; I think he understands the world. He understands the role of America in that troubled world.

Iran is isolating itself from the rest of the world.

Al Qaeda still remains a threat.

If we don't do something to simplify the tax system, we're going to end up with a national police force of internal revenue agents.

The potential for the next Pearl Harbor could very well be a cyber-attack.

You don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on.

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.

I want to reassert again the position of the United States that with regards to Iran, we will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, period. We will not allow them to develop a nuclear weapon, and we will exert all options in the effort to ensure that that does not happen...The United States stands firmly with Israel, and we have a rock solid commitment to the security of Israel and to the security of its citizens.