Submission + - Panetta Says Defeat of Al Qaeda 'Within Reach'
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Newly installed Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, on an unannounced trip to Afghanistan, says 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. Panetta, who rarely spoke on the record as CIA director, offered few details to bolster his assessment but intelligence officials say that computer files retrieved from Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, showed that the organization was in dire need of money and struggling under persistent American drone strikes on its leadership. “I think now is the moment,” says Panetta. “I do believe that if we continue this effort, we can really cripple Al Qaeda as a threat to this country.”"