Lmst

How 'don't ask, don't tell' came to be, what it did, and how it ended

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.advocate.com/history/dont-ask-dont-tell-history

Leon Panetta on the Trump Administration’s Venezuelan Boat Strikes

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/leon-panetta-on-the-trump-administrations-venezuelan-boat-strikes

5 fmr #defense secretaries on Thurs denounced #Trump’s firing last week of the #JointChiefs chair & several other snr #military ofcls, urging #Congress to hold hearings & declaring they have concluded the officers were “fired for purely partisan reasons.”  The extraordinary public appeal was signed by #LloydAustin, #JimMattis, #ChuckHagel, #LeonPanetta & #WilliamPerry — who served in Republican & Democratic admins dating back to the 1990s.

#USpol #law #NationalSecurity
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/five-former-us-defense-secretaries-assail-trumps-military-firings-reckless-2025-02-28/

Letter from 5 former Defense Secretaries

Trump moves to revoke clearances for officials who signed Hunter Biden letter

President Trump took executive action Monday to start revoking the security clearances of his former national security adviser, John Bolton, and dozens of intelligence officials who signed a letter in 2020 claiming emails found on a laptop owned by Hunter Biden bore the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign.

Mr. Trump said in his order that the signers of the letter “willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions.”

The letter at issue was signed by 51 former intelligence officials and released in October 2020.

Among those who signed the letter are former Defense Secretary #LeonPanetta, former Director of National Intelligence #JamesClapper, former #CIA and #NSA Director #MichaelHayden and former CIA Director #JohnBrennan.

CBS News / https://archive.md/NmFfc #spooks #liars #uspol

Ex-CIA director Leon Panetta ‘hopeful’ that Trump will be more Reagan than ‘America First’ on national security https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/03/leon-panetta-trump-defense-national-security #Trumpadministration #Obamaadministration #USnationalsecurity #USforeignpolicy #LeonPanetta #DonaldTrump #PeteHegseth #Republicans #USmilitary #USpolitics #Democrats #Worldnews #USnews #CIA

#UsNews Via Ken Klippenstein [video clip in link]:
Former CIA Director #LeonPanetta calls Israel's explosive pager operation "terrorism" in an interview with #CBSToday:

"I don't think there's any question it's a form of #terrorism."

"When you have terror going into the supply chain, it makes people ask the question: what the hell is next?"

"The forces of #war are largely in control right now of what's going on."
https://x.com/kenklippenstein/status/1838001378121163053?t=JItJHexWXKWWh5cSL_ihFw&s=19

Former #Defense Secretary #LeonPanetta speaks at 2024 Democratic National Convention

"[#Harris] understands what our military is for. The role of our military is to defend us from foreign enemies," Panetta said. "It is not to threaten Americans, & it sure as hell isn't to put immigrants in camps."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvDB3eCbzpY

#NationalSecurity #ForeignPolicy #military #veterans #allies #NATO #immigration #law #geopolitics #democracy