"We cannot just simply stand back and allow this to continue to happen."

Making his first visit to Iraq as defense secretary, Mr. Panetta also said flatly -- before he and a Pentagon spokesman qualified his remarks -- that United States forces were in Iraq because of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. That was part of the narrative advanced by the Bush White House, particularly Vice President Dick Cheney, but it is now widely dismissed...

Panetta Says US Will Maintain "Enduring Presence" in Iraq