Karen Parish at the American Forces Press Service offers the below piece:
*
LONDON, Jan. 19, 2013 - The hostage crisis in Algeria has ended, but
information on what exactly happened and how many people were killed remain
unclear, the U.S. and British defense chiefs told reporters here today.*
During a news
conference at Lancaster House, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and British
Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said both their governments remain in close
contact with Algerian officials, and are working to establish firm details of
the assault, kidnappings and murders that took place at a remote natural gas
facility in Algeria.
*
Panetta confirmed Americans were among those held hostage, but he said the
possible number of U.S. deaths remains unclear. He pledged continued close
consultation with Algerian authorities, and emphasized the attackers bear full
and sole responsibility for all loss of life.
*
"Just as we cannot accept terrorist attacks against our cities, we cannot
accept attacks against our citizens and our interests abroad," he said. "Neither
can we accept an al-Qaida safe haven anywhere in the world."
*
Since 9/11, Panetta said, "we've made very clear that nobody is going to
attack the United States of America and get away with it." The nation and its
allies and partners have fought terrorists in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and
Yemen, and will take the fight to North Africa as well, he said.
*
Both Panetta and Hammond stated they have no plan to put their nations'
troops on the ground in Mali, where French forces are fighting the advance of
terrorist factions. Both nations are assisting French operations, the defense
chiefs said, but they agree that the ultimate solution to countering terrorism
in Africa is to train and assist forces on that continent to provide their own
security.
*
Terrorists, particularly regional factions of al-Qaida, remain a determined
enemy, Panetta said. It's important that the United States and its allies
continue to work with developing militaries in the places where terrorists seek
to establish operations, he added.
*
"What I care about is that [regional forces] do everything they can to ensure
al-Qaida does not establish a safe haven. ... If we continue to pressure
al-Qaida, we can keep them on the run. ... [But we] cannot be complacent," he
said.
*
The secretary arrived here the evening of Jan. 17, and has attended meetings
with Prime Minister David Cameron, other senior government officials and members
of Parliament.
*
Panetta told reporters he also met with some British troops who recently
returned from Afghanistan. "I expressed my deepest appreciation to them and to
their families," he said.
*
The secretary expressed his sorrow for the families of Great Britain's troops
killed in Afghanistan. "The American people will forever mourn the more than 400
fallen British heroes of this war," he said.
*
Sustaining Afghan forces beyond 2014 is crucial to ensuring those and all
deaths in Afghanistan since 9/11 are not in vain, he said, and to ensuring
Afghanistan can secure and govern itself into the future.
*
Panetta praised Britain's commitment to the coalition mission in Afghanistan,
and his meetings with British leaders and defense officials, he said,
"reaffirmed the continued strength of the historic relationship between our two
nations."
*
Those discussions also underscored the numerous security challenges the
United States, Great Britain and their partner nations face, the secretary
noted.
*
He listed some of those threats: ongoing operations in Afghanistan, turmoil
in the Middle East, a growing terrorist threat in Africa, Iran's focus on
nuclear proliferation, the murder of Syrian citizens by Bashar al Assad's
regime, ceaseless cyberattacks and the shadow of record deficits and growing
budget pressures.
*
His discussions with Hammond addressed those issues and others, the secretary
said. He praised Britain's leaders for their focus on sustaining and improving
the NATO alliance, and in planning effective, allied approaches to common
threats.
*
As he has throughout this trip, the secretary also spoke of budget crises
facing American and many of its allies, and the resulting increased need for
partner nations to cooperate in defense investments and operations. The United
States and the United Kingdom, he noted, are pursuing a mutual aircraft carrier
initiative that "will bring our navies closer together than ever."
*
Panetta repeated a message he has delivered consistently throughout his
travels this week: "It is when resources are constrained and security challenges
are growing that we need to be creative and innovative in ... [developing]
alliances."
*
The secretary quoted the World War II British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill: "This is no time for ease and comfort; this is a time to dare, and to
endure."
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