Pakistan based terrorists pose threat to US: Panetta

Panetta says that if US exits Afghanistan too quickly, it would allow al Qaeda to build safe havens there.

WASHINGTON: Addressing the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday, US Secretary for Defense Leon Panetta said that terrorists in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia pose a threat to the United States.

At a hearing on the future of national defense and the US military 10 years after 9/11, the focus of the discussion centered largely on defense budget cuts. The hearing was disrupted in the first 15 minutes by anti-war protestors, who raised slogans against the war, and were escorted out by the police.

Secretary of Defense Panetta said that their focus was that Afghanistan should not become a safe haven for al Qaeda again. He added that if the United States left Afghanistan in a hurry, and Afghanistan became a base for al Qaeda, the world would question the US.

Members of the committee questioned Secretary Panetta as to why the US was spending billions in wars when the US was facing a fiscal deficit and an economic crisis at home. Rep Chellie Pingree questioned why the United States was spending $120 billion a year on the wars. Secretary Panetta said he was hopeful that by 2014, the process of transition in Afghanistan would be completed.

Secretary Panetta was joined by the new Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey who also talked about the cuts in the defense budget and its impact on the US military.