Global Security Newswire

CIA Director-designate Leon Panetta said yesterday he would assume his position determined to hunt down Osama bin Laden and find means of resolving nuclear threats in Iran and North Korea (see GSN, Sept. 17, 2008).

Al-Qaeda remains the single greatest threat to the United States and renewed efforts are necessary to track its activities in the tribal regions of Pakistan, Panetta said during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee.

The former White House chief of staff later called al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden "our worst enemy."

"There obviously have been a lot of efforts to try to locate him. Oftentimes the trail goes cold but there is a continuing effort to try to ensure that we do everything possible to try to find him. It would be one of my priorities, frankly, to make sure that we in fact do find him and bring him to justice," Panetta said.

Asked by Senator Evan Bayh (D--Ind.) whether Iran is strictly pursuing civilian nuclear power or if it is pursuing a nuclear-weapon capability, Panetta said: "From all the information that I've seen, I think there is no question that they are seeking that capability."

The most recent comprehensive U.S. intelligence assessment, prepared in 2007, asserted that Iran halted its formal nuclear weapons program in 2003 although it continues to pursue capabilities that could produce a key nuclear-bomb ingredient (see related GSN story, today).

"[The] greatest challenge at the CIA is the need to develop the very best intelligence in areas that we are not anticipating right now may be problems for the future," Panetta said in response to a question by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). "I think we've got a very good effort in Afghanistan; I think we've got a good effort in Pakistan; I think we've got a good effort in Iraq; I think we've got a good effort in Iran and North Korea. But what I worry about are those areas that concern me for the future. We aren't as strong as we should be, I believe, in Russia, in China, in Africa (Diane Barnes, Global Security Newswire, Feb. 6).

Panetta added that he is addressing his lack of experience in the intelligence community by seeking advice from former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and other former CIA chiefs, the Associated Press reported.

"They all told me to listen carefully to the professionals at the agency, but also to stay closely engaged with Congress," he said in written testimony (Pamela Hess, Associated Press/Google News, Feb. 5).