Panetta: Bigger defense cuts would be devastating - Yahoo! News:
"Panetta was asked about news reports that the Pentagon is considering reducing military retirement benefits, which, along with military health costs, have ballooned in recent years."

I used to have a bit of respect for Panetta since he seemed like one of the view principled members of Clinton's cabinet. Now I know he was just a great actor. This kind of statement is absurd. Either he is lying because he is afraid of the generals, or he is just plain stupid. I suspect a bit of both. The Pentagon is notorious for being profligate with money and doesn't even pretend any more to have an accounting system. And nobody seems to care. But to try to scare people needlessly and then to top it all off, to say "Well if we have to cut, it's gonna have to come from the personnel" is despicable. To all my military friends out there, NOBODY wants to reduce in any way the pay or compensation for military personnel both active and former. On the contrary, they need to have their benefits increased at the very least. But there are billions of dollars to be had in cutting the defense AND state departments. And despite Panetta's deplorable bleatings, the security and efficiency of both departments, and our national security, can be enhanced at a much cheaper cost.