Panetta: Damn the Polls, Afghan War Strategy Stays
Panetta Dismisses Polls, Insists Afghan War Strategy Won’t Change. - Speaking today following a meeting with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta dismissed the recent polls showing a supermajority of Americans opposed to continuing the occupation of Afghanistan, saying that the US already has the “best strategy” for the war and will continue on with it despite what the polls say. “I think the American people understand why we’re engaged in Afghanistan. 9/11 represented an attack on our country,” Panetta said. The poll actually touched on this, with a majority of respondents saying that since the death of Osama bin Laden [probably in late 2001] [his death irrelevant for the “mission” anyway] they aren’t really clear what the “mission” of the occupation is anymore.