The US is within reach of strategically defeating al-Qaeda following the killing of Osama bin Laden and is set to go after some other key leaders of the terror network in Pakistan and Yemen to put "maximum pressure" on it, new Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has said.
"I was convinced in my prior capacity (as CIA chief) and I'm convinced in this capacity that we're within reach of strategically defeating al-Qaeda and I'm hoping to be able to focus on that, working, obviously, with my prior agency as well," Panetta told reporters en route to Kabul, his first overseas trip as the Defense Secretary.
"My goals are to defeat al-Qaeda, that obviously we made an important start with that with getting rid of bin Laden," he said, adding he wants to establish sufficient stability in both Iraq and Afghanistan so that al-Qaeda and its militant allies do not find a safe haven there.
Panetta said the US is within reach to target top al-Qaeda leaders. "Having gotten bin Laden, we've now identified some of the key leadership within al-Qaeda both in Pakistan as well as in Yemen and other areas," he said.
"If we can be successful at going after them, I think we can really undermine their ability to do any kind of planning to be able to conduct any kind of attack on this country, but that's why I think it's within reach. Is it going to take some more work? You bet it is. But I think it's within reach," he said.
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