Dangerously out of touch, Defense Secretary Panetta, says protests unreflective of popular Middle Eastern opinion as “a KKK demonstration” in US

Panetta called the demonstrations “convulsions” related to the political tumult in a region that had cast off dictators for democracy. The protests, Panetta argued, were as unreflective of popular Middle Eastern opinion as “a Ku Klux Klan demonstration” in the United States.

‘A Whole New Era’
17 September, 2012 – Foreign Policy

FP Interview with Leon Paneta

In his Pentagon office last Friday evening, a smiling but tired-looking Leon Panetta drank a Sprite on ice and sat for an extensive interview with Foreign Policy, in which the defense secretary spoke publicly for the first time about last week’s remarkable, unexpected protests across the Middle East. Even as wall-to-wall media coverage showed angry young men scaling U.S. embassy walls, setting cars and buildings aflame, and hoisting al Qaeda’s black flag, Panetta called the demonstrations “convulsions” related to the political tumult in a region that had cast off dictators for democracy. The protests, Panetta argued, were as unreflective of popular Middle Eastern opinion as “a Ku Klux Klan demonstration” in the United States.

But the prospects for more unrest are widespread, Panetta acknowledged, saying the military was positioning forces to respond to as many as 18 sites of concern — far more than the two embassies in Libya and Yemen that 100 Marines have so far been hurriedly deployed to protect. Just a year ago, Panetta hailed the impending “strategic defeat” of al Qaeda; in the interview, he clarified to say he was talking about “the al Qaeda that attacked the United States of America on 9/11,” while its affiliate groups are in fact now growing in Yemen, Somalia, and across North Africa.

In a normal week, the top national security news would have been the public row between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Obama administration officials over whether to set “red lines” that would trigger military strikes to halt Iran’s nuclear program. But Panetta dismissed Netanyahu’s heated rhetoric, repeated on this weekend’s U.S. talk shows, about the need for such “red lines” in the effort to pressure Iran: “The fact is, look, presidents of the United States, prime ministers of Israel or any other country — leaders of these countries don’t have, you know, a bunch of little red lines that determine their decisions.”

On Afghanistan, where another deadly insider attack struck Helmand’s Camp Bastion on Friday, Panetta acknowledged that some of the toughest fighting is yet to come in the East, before security in the final sections of the country is handed over to Afghans by the end of 2014. As for whether the White House will leave a robust enough post-surge force for two more years of fighting, Panetta said, “My view is that the president of the United States will rely a great deal on the recommendations of General Allen as to what he needs to accomplish the mission.”

The next day, Panetta departed for Japan and China, where he said he expected to present himself as a mediator in the dispute that has once again heated up over islands that both nations claim. Interestingly, Panetta said that he had had a good intelligence relationship with China when he was CIA director, which gives him hope that he can continue to thaw relations between the Pentagon and the People’s Liberation Army. When asked if that meant that China was not America’s top geopolitical foe, Panetta coyly replied, “I’m not going to get into the Romney game.” …more THE INTERVIEW