Panetta, in Kabul, Says Defeat of Al Qaeda Is ‘Within Reach’
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, who arrived in Kabul on Saturday, said that the United States was “within reach of strategically defeating Al Qaeda” and that the American focus had narrowed to capturing or killing 10 to 20 crucial leaders of the terrorist group in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.
Mr. Panetta, who took over as the Defense Department chief from Robert M. Gates on July 1, made his comments aboard his plane before arriving on an unannounced trip to Kabul.
They were Mr. Panetta’s first public remarks as defense secretary and among the most positive from a senior American national security official about the decade-old war against the terrorist organization, founded by Osama bin Laden, that was responsible for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.