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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.

Leon Panetta

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Leon Panetta
Age: 86
Born: 1938
Born: June 28
Former Director Of The Central Intelligence Agency
Lawyer
Political Scientist
Politician
Monterey
California
Leon Edward Panetta
Place
Confrontation
Take
Involve
Many
Consequence
Would
East
Think
Regret
Thinking
Conflict
Middle
Escalation
Lives
Consume

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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.
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The terrorism from 9/11 has metastasized. It's metastasized in Iraq and Syria, in Nigeria, in Somalia, in Yemen and in other places in North Africa. We need a very comprehensive strategy to deal with that threat.
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Throughout the 40 years I've been in Washington, I've always worked hard, particularly with regards to the budget issues.
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You don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on.
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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.
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An aggressor nation or extremist group could gain control of critical switches and derail passenger trains, or trains loaded with lethal chemicals.
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One demonstration of extremists, any more than a Ku Klux Klan demonstration in the United States, is not necessarily reflective of what the rest of the country feels.
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I'm going to give people the benefit of the doubt.
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The Taliban is resilient.
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In this century, the 21st century, the U.S. recognizes our prosperity and our security depends even more on the Asia-Pacific region.
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Red lines are kind of political arguments that are used to try to put people in a corner.
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The fundamental premise is that neither the United States or the international community is going to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.
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When you're smaller and leaner, you're not going to have that large a presence throughout the world.
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I don't usually comment on columnists' ideas of what I'm thinking. That's a dangerous game to get into.
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I don't engage in hypotheticals.
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These days, it takes only seconds - seconds - for a picture, a photo, to suddenly become an international headline.
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Go forward, knowing that you are greater than the challenges of your time.
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The reason we've always had a civilian in that job [Secretary of Defence] is because we really believe that it is policymakers who ought to control the military and not have the military control the military.
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I think what both Republicans and Democrats need to do and the leaders on 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. They have a responsibility to come together, find the money necessary to de-trigger sequester.
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Frankly, my fundamental beliefs have not changed.
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