Panetta warns against US defense cuts

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Thursday that the $350 billion of proposed cuts in defense spending was manageable as part of the overall deficit-cutting package signed earlier this week by US President Barack Obama, but warned against greater cuts.Anything that doubles that would be disastrous to the defense budget, Panetta told reporters.In his first news conference since taking over from Robert Gates a month ago, Panetta voiced strong opposition to a conditional second round in military spending -- of as much as $600 billion -- which was agreed between the White House and Congress as part of a deal to lift the countrys $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.The hard-fought legislative deal calls for an initial $350 billion in savings over the next decade. Then, under a process called sequestration, the Pentagon could face a potential second round of cuts in security spending estimated at about $600 billion from fiscal 2012 to 2021.All I know is that, from the review weve been doing, for what we have to deal with in these numbers, that anything that doubles that would be disastrous to the defense budget, Panetta said.