Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta issued a dire warning Friday about national security following a report from CNN that the U.S. military has used most of its key missile interceptors in the Iran war and has a “dangerously low” supply of munitions stockpiles left.
CNN cited multiple unnamed sources in the report published Tuesday.
“And the problem is, we now realize that 80% of our THAADs are down, that our Patriots were down almost more than one half … and we’re down in our Stingers, we’re down with all of our critical missile systems at a time when there is a real threat,” Panetta said Friday on “News Central.”
He appeared to discuss the CNN report as well as recent U.S. intelligence assessments that Russian President Vladimir Putin could attack an allied country in the next few years to test NATO — an alliance President Donald Trump has long criticized.
Panetta was CIA director between 2009 and 2011 under then-President Barack Obama and served as his defense secretary from 2011 to 2013. He warned Friday that an attack on a NATO country would force the U.S. to prove its commitment to the alliance under Article 5.
“I think we have to take this intelligence assessment as a real threat to NATO,” said Panetta. “And … we’re going to have to respond. And right now, because our missile systems and our supply of weapons being down, this is a vulnerable period for the United States.”
He also mentioned the possibility of having to “renew our attacks in Iran” with limited weapon capacity as Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and other potential new conflicts loom.
“And very frankly, dealing with the threat from China, as well, should [President] Xi [Jinping] decide to go into Taiwan,” he said. “So this is a dangerous moment for the United States to have these reduced stockpiles of key weapons at a time when these threats are all real.”
Trump reportedly fumed at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week over the weapons shortfall, demanding an explanation during a presidential retreat at Camp David.
While chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell denied claims of any shortages to JS on Thursday, Hegseth reportedly blamed his deputy secretary Stephen Feinberg for them during the Camp David clash, two people familiar with the exchange told The Washington Post.
“Well, it should not have happened,” Panetta noted Friday. “I don’t care what excuses you want to use, it should not have happened. And I know that the secretary blamed the deputy secretary, blamed others — but frankly, the buck stops with him.”
He said, “It’s poor planning to wind up with your stockpiles of key weapons being depleted.”