Leon Panetta

WASHINGTON - Leon E. Panetta was an obscure government lawyer in 1970 when President Nixon's administration forced him to resign for enforcing civil rights and equal education laws too aggressively - an episode that helped launch his political career. On Thursday, he signed an order at the Pentagon to allow women to serve in ground combat units for the first time in U.S. military history, a goal that aides say he was determined to accomplish before stepping down as secretary of Defense.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has agreed to expand benefits for gay and lesbian couples serving in the military, but officials continued to withhold equal access to base housing, healthcare and educational services. Leon E. Panetta, the outgoing secretary of Defense, signed an order Monday that permits same-sex partners and their dependents to use numerous family-oriented facilities and services on U.S. military bases, including recreation areas, counseling programs, school buses, child care and shopping exchanges.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta on Tuesday praised the NATO mission that has been assisting rebel forces in their effort to overthrow Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi, saying the rebels had made “significant gains,” thanks in large part to the help of NATO forces. Speaking at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., Panetta said that while the situation in Libya  remained uncertain, it was “clear that the regime forces are collapsing and that Kadafi's days are numbered.” “It is a credit to the great job of nations working together on a common mission, something that is absolutely essential if we are to provide security in the future,” he said.

Click here to download TV listings for the week of Feb. 3 - 9, 2013 in PDF format This week's TV Movies     SATURDAY Good Morning America (N) 7 a.m. KABC The Chris Matthews Show Michael Duffy; Katty Kay; Howard Fineman; Annie Lowrey. (N) 5 p.m. and Sunday 5:30 a.m. KNBC McLaughlin Group 6:30 p.m. KCET SUNDAY CBS News Sunday Morning Tim McGraw; Robert De Niro; Charles Fazzino. (N) 6 a.m. KCBS Today A preview of Super Bowl commercials.

Leon Panetta was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday as secretary of Defense, taking the helm at the Pentagon as President Obama's national security policy reaches a pivotal juncture amid growing discontent in Congress over expansive overseas military operations at a time of stark budget deficits. Panetta, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, will replace Robert M. Gates, who is retiring after serving in two administrations, as the White House overhauls its national security team.

Although Leon Panetta has not yet announced he will run for governor ("Panetta Decries Big-Money Campaigns," March 19), California voters should be wary of anyone who suggests that "the initiative process perhaps should be changed so that measures would not go on the ballot until they first had been reviewed by the governor and the Legislature." Is there a hidden agenda here? He might as well state outright he doesn't believe we are capable of enacting or denying initiatives for ourselves, however controversial they may be to our politicians.

The Senate confirmed Leon E. Panetta as director of the CIA on Thursday, placing the spy agency in the hands of a government veteran valued for his skills as a lawmaker and policy manager rather than an expert at intelligence-gathering and analysis. Approval came by voice vote.

When it comes to selecting the country's head spook, our presidents have a pretty hit-and-miss history. That's why President-elect Barack Obama should ignore the sudden hysteria over his choice for director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Despite what some congressional critics are saying, there's every reason to believe former California congressman Leon Panetta will do as well or better than most of his predecessors. The ranking members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, including Sen.

Shortly after Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta took office July 1, he boarded a U.S. Air Force jet and flew home to California for a three-day weekend. He has flown home five weekends since then and has spent part of a two-week vacation there. Aides say that unless he is required to stay in Washington or travel elsewhere, Panetta will spend most weekends and days off at his 12-acre walnut farm in scenic Carmel Valley, where he and his wife, Sylvia, make their home. It is common for members of Congress to fly back to their districts every weekend or so, and Panetta did so when he represented Monterey in the House from 1977 to 1993, and as CIA director, his first job in the Obama administration.

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta attended a remembrance ceremony in the Pentagon's center courtyard Tuesday to mark the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. “Even as we mark 11 years since that horrible day, we know it will be forever engrained in our souls, in our hearts, as members of the Pentagon family, and as Americans,” Panetta said, paying tribute to the 184 people who lost their lives at the Pentagon that morning. “They had done nothing, nothing to deserve such a cruel fate.

WASHINGTON - Leon E. Panetta was an obscure government lawyer in 1970 when President Nixon's administration forced him to resign for enforcing civil rights and equal education laws too aggressively - an episode that helped launch his political career. On Thursday, he signed an order at the Pentagon to allow women to serve in ground combat units for the first time in U.S. military history, a goal that aides say he was determined to accomplish before stepping down as secretary of Defense.

The secretary of Defense has decided not to overrule his predecessor and posthumously award the Medal of Honor to Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta of San Diego, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) announced Wednesday. The decision by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta means the Navy Cross awarded to Peralta for heroism during the 2004 battle in Fallouja, Iraq, will not be upgraded to the nation's highest award for combat courage. Hunter had petitioned Panetta to overturn the decision made by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates in 2008.

WASHINGTON - When a senior U.S. general met in Beijing recently with Lt. Gen. Cai Yingting, the deputy chief of China's armed forces, Cai forcefully objected to America's expanding military presence in Asia and the Pacific, describing it as an effort to encircle his country. "Why are you containing us?" Cai demanded, according to a U.S. official who was present and described the incident in return for anonymity. The U.S. general denied seeking to contain China, but it's easy to see why officials in Beijing might get that impression.

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta attended a remembrance ceremony in the Pentagon's center courtyard Tuesday to mark the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. “Even as we mark 11 years since that horrible day, we know it will be forever engrained in our souls, in our hearts, as members of the Pentagon family, and as Americans,” Panetta said, paying tribute to the 184 people who lost their lives at the Pentagon that morning. “They had done nothing, nothing to deserve such a cruel fate.

WASHINGTON - The United States and Pakistan had nearly completed a deal to reopen crucial NATO supply routes into Afghanistan, officials from both countries said, when Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta harshly criticized Islamabad last week for allowing militants to mount cross-border attacks from its territory. And with that, new problems erupted. U.S. and Pakistani negotiators had been putting the final touches on the agreement when Panetta, speaking in Kabul on Thursday, said the U.S. was "reaching the limits of our patience" over Islamabad's failure to root out Afghan insurgents in its tribal areas, the officials said.

NEW DELHI - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta urged India on Wednesday to build a closer military relationship with the United States, but Indian leaders appeared more interested in buying U.S. weapons than in aligning strategically with Washington. Senior Indian officials made it clear in two days of talks that they will continue to set their own course on U.S. national security priorities, including isolating Iran and building upAfghanistan'smilitary forces, sometimes in tandem with Washington and sometimes not. Panetta is visiting Asia this week to bolster military ties as the Obama administration, wary ofChina's growing clout in the region, seeks to reassert America's presence in the Pacific after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In choosing Leon E. Panetta to be the next CIA director, President-elect Barack Obama appears to have concluded that a spy chief who understands politics may be better equipped to carry out the incoming administration's national security agenda than one who understands espionage.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta heads to this weekend's NATO summit prepared to confront Pakistan over what he considers price-gouging for transport of supplies to Afghanistan and hoping for a "consensus" among allies over the war effort. In an interview before his arrival in Chicago, where the summit is scheduled to begin Sunday, Panetta all but ruled out paying Pakistan $5,000 for each truck carrying supplies across its territory for NATO troops waging the Afghanistan war. Pakistani officials have demanded that amount as a condition for reopening supply routes that have been closed to the alliance since fall.

Concerns about the Air Force's problem-plagued fleet of F-22 Raptor fighter jets led Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta to restrict flights of the aircraft because of problems with its oxygen systems that can cause its pilots to become disoriented mid-flight. In addition, Panetta wants a monthly progress report on the investigation into the root cause of the F-22's oxygen problems and ordered the Air Force to speed up the installation of an automatic backup oxygen system. Panetta also called on Navy and NASA personnel to find a solution.