The Panetta Era Begins

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta speaks to troops at Camp Victory, Iraq, July 11, 2011. DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey

With Blunt, Salty Talk, Panetta Era Begins -- New York Times

ERBIL, Iraq — The received wisdom in Washington when Leon E. Panetta took Robert M. Gates’s place as defense secretary was that the Pentagon was exchanging one low-intensity Beltway professional for another. Well, yes and no.

Mr. Panetta may be Mr. Gates’s friend and a longtime creature of the capital, but his inaugural trip to Iraq and Afghanistan this week and last proved that in substance and style — from a relentless focus on military intelligence and quashing Al Qaeda to salty remarks that left his aides scrambling to provide him cover — he is another species entirely. A new era at the Pentagon has begun.

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My Comment: Leon Panetta is a quintessential politician, and it is this style that he will bring to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.