Defense chief Leon Panetta says "war is hell"

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, arrives in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

/ Scott Olson

(CBS News) ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT -- Flying across the Atlantic Ocean Monday evening, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta slowly walked into the press compartment of his reconfigured 747 - known as the "doomsday plane" - looking as though he were shouldering the weight of the world.

"War is hell," he grimly intoned. He was flying to meetings in Kyrgyzstan, but his thoughts were elsewhere, absorbed by the latest horror in Afghanistan - the shooting deaths of 16 innocent Afghan civilians, mostly children, allegedly by a rogue U.S. soldier.

Panetta said he was "deeply shocked and saddened" by the incident - the same words other officials have used. But coming from Panetta, a man who's known for wearing his emotions on the surface, they didn't sound like talking points -- they sounded like the heartfelt words of a man who takes this kind of unspeakable tragedy personally.

But when asked if this incident, along with the recent burning of Korans by U.S. troops and the violent reaction by Afghans, could lead to a reassessment of the war plan in Afghanistan, Panetta shifted effortlessly into mission mode. He said this "wasn't the first and won't be the last" of this kind of horrible event, adding "I do not believe there is any reason to change our strategy at this time."

Panetta: Awaiting plans to draw down Afghan surge

Policymakers need to keep their eyes on the purpose of the mission in Afghanistan, which he described as defeating and disrupting Al Qaeda so that Afghanistan can never again become a safe haven for terrorists bent on attacking America, he said.

Reporters pressed different versions of the question: whether this is a potential turning point, or a time to reassess or accelerate the withdrawal. We were looking for wiggle room, but found none. The mission must go on, Panetta repeated. There's a drawdown schedule already in place, he said, and there's no reason to change it. 23,000 of the current 91,000 troops will be out by September. The drawdown will be complete by the end of 2014. Violence is down this year 24 percent. Again and again, he refused to budge from the current battle plan, which he insisted is working.

President Obama said Monday the United States should not stay in Afghanistan any longer than is absolutely necessary -- but added that he does not want to "rush for the exits" in the wake of the shooting rampage.

"It's important for us to make sure that we "get out in responsible way, so that we don't end up having to go back in ... but what we don't want to do is to do it in a way that is just a rush for the exits," Mr. Obama said in an interview with Pittsburgh CBS affiliate KDKA.

When Panetta, wearing beat up blue jeans, got up to leave the informal press conference, he joked about the cramped press quarters, and let out a small hint of the famous Panetta laugh. But it was gone in a flash, and he took his somber mood back to his cabin in the front of the plane.

There's little doubt Panetta is taking the shooting rampage very hard.

But for anyone wondering if it might have lessened his determination to see the mission through - the answer, at least for now, is a firm and clear no.

[addict42]

This whole sad folly is just history repeating itself, even the tired old cliches are being regurgitated. The United States is like some huge hulking battleship run aground and sinking very slowly with all it's crew (inhabitants) ignoring the obvious inch of water at their feet now.

[slatep]

WAR IS HELL.!!!

Somebody named Hayden says early withdrwal from Afghan would create "chaos" and we would be unable to reach "our goal".!!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that our goal in Afghanistan was to capture or kill bin-Laden.

I don't know how much more it would take to meet Hayden's definition of "chaos".

It couldn't be more obvious that our troops have had all they can take what with three or four deployments to this country where the peple are little more than savages.

As for Panetta, Obama and Panetta could get our troops out of "HELL" starting tomorrow.!

It seems our leaders (political and military) have learned nothing from a war where our troops have taken one step forward and two backwards for more than ten years.

To top it all off; we have a Veteran's Administration ( I thought this was supposed to be an administration to give every benefit every veteran deserves to them), and now we find out that many troops suffering from PTSD are sent back into combat because the VA claims it costs too much to treat them.

The sergeant that killed innocent Afghans had done three tours in Iraq and was on his fourth deployment when he was sent to Afghanistan.

What part do Obama, Panetta and the military leaders not understand that this man SNAPPED.??

The Taliban now wants revenge for the killing of these 16 people.

These are the same people who throw acid on little girls on their way to school (mustn't allow girls or women to gain too much knowledge lest they find out the men in their country are ignorant, savage egomaniacs who fear their loss of control), and the same people who strap bombs on 8 year old girls and send them to US bases to blow our troops up.

The entire leadership of our country need an attitude adjustment.

We are still sending 2 BILLION dollars a month to Afghanistan and sacrificing the lives of American troops to a country which is going to go back to living their lives as they have done for thousands of years the day after American troops are pulled out.

The government needs to pull their heads out of their a**es, spend the 2 billion dollars a month here in the US and all the while saving American lives in the process.

We accomplished our goal in Afghanistan when bin-Laden was killed in PAKISTAN; another foreign country that also receives billions of dollars in "foreigh aid" and still continues to betray the US.

How much more STUPID does Obama, the DOD and our military leaders have to get before they recognize these facts.???!!!

[erichsh]

Now there's two words you almost never see in an article about the Obama Administration: "Reporters pressed..."

Of course, you still have the uncontrollable fawning and drooling ("the heartfelt words of a man who takes this kind of unspeakable tragedy personally"), and the "pressing" is from the left, not right - but hey, I guess it's better than raving about Michelle's toned legs, or Barack's basketball game.