Pity the guy at the Defense Department whose job is to explain his boss following Leon Panetta’s gaffe-filled first trip to Iraq and Afghanistan as Defense Secretary. Among other things, HuffPo says that Panetta:
- Introduced himself to troops in Afghanistan as the CIA director (his old job).
- Told soldiers in Iraq they were there “because on 9/11 the United States got attacked,” a premise straight from the Bush Administration.
- Skipped entirely the administration’s stock line about protecting Libyan citizens when speaking of that country, saying the U. S. intends to “do what we can to bring down the regime of Gadhafi.”
