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June 22, 2011

Senate Confirms Panetta as Pentagon Chief 
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The Senate has voted unanimously to confirm outgoing CIA Director Leon
Panetta as the next U.S. Secretary of Defense. Democratic Senator Carl
Levin of Michigan praised Panetta for what he called a "clear moral
compass."

Sen. Carl Levin: "Throughout his time in public service, Leon Panetta
has been guided by a clear moral compass. He has said that, "in politics
there has to be a line beyond which you don't go. The line that marks
the difference between right and wrong, what your conscience tells you
is right. Too often people don't know where the line is."

Panetta has headed the CIA for the past two years and has led a massive
escalation of the use of unarmed drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Speaking on Democracy Now! earlier this year, former senior CIA analyst
Ray Mc Govern said Panetta would cater to Congressional and
military-industry interests.

Ray Mc Govern: "He will do at the Pentagon what he did at the CIA, and
that is, act as the lawyer for the department, as he was a lawyer for
the agency. He did not take hold. He did not lead the agency. Nor will
he lead the Defense Department. He’s a — he described himself in his
nomination hearings as a creature of the Congress. And so, you can bet
on him placating congressional interests and making sure that the
military-industrial complex flourishes."

Panetta replaces the outgoing U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates,
who retires at the end of the month.



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