(CNN) U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told CNN Monday in an interview that when Bashar al-Assad loses his grip on power, he wants the Syrian military to remain in place. "I think it's important when Assad leaves - and he will leave - to try to preserve stability in that country. And the best way to preserve that kind of stability is to maintain as much of the military, the police, as you can, along with the security forces." He said the U.S. shouldn't allow a repeat of "the same mistakes we made in Iraq," where the U.S. disbanded the Iraqi military.
2012-07-31 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive