'This Week' in History: Domestic vs. Global Terrorism
Leon Panetta, then Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff, appears on 'This Week' in 1996
June 27, 2010— -- CIA Director Leon Panetta comes to "This Week" for his first Sunday interview since taking the post. As head of the world's preeminent spy agency, Panetta rarely grants media access. His days and nights are consumed with preventing terrorist attacks and hunting down terrorists. But 14 years ago, when he was President Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta's television appearances were more frequent and "This Week" in History looks at how, even back then, Panetta viewed terrorism as a "growing problem."
It was July 28, 1996, the day after the Atlanta Centennial Olympic Park bombing that killed two people and wounded more than a hundred. Officials concluded it was pipe bomb that detonated in the middle of the Summer Olympics. Just the year before was the Oklahoma City bombing, which took 168 lives. Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts, both filling in for David Brinkley as host, questioned Panetta on the emerging threat.
"Is it now the fact that this country now -- we're not used to the IRA attacks that the British had, or Baader-Meinhoff gang in Germany, kidnappings in Italy, that kind of thing -- we now have to pay more attention?" Roberts asked.
"Whether it's London or whether it's Tel Aviv or whether it's Atlanta or Oklahoma City, there is a growing problem with regards to terrorism," Panetta said. "This country has to confront it, not be intimidated by it. Clearly, you cannot provide a risk free existence in a free society, that's part of the problem here."
Now, more than a decade later, Panetta will appear on "This Week" again, but this time as the head of the CIA. The country is still battling terrorism, although the enemy has shifted. Whereas the U.S. still faces domestic foes, now it increasingly faces global threats as well.
"In addition to the fight against al Qaeda, we are also facing threats from other terrorist groups," Panetta said in a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing in February. "Terrorists like al-Shabaab, Hezbollah, Hamas, other jihadist militant groups. And a particular concern is LeT -- Lashkar-e-Taiba -- which, if they should conduct an attack against India, could very well undermine our efforts in Pakistan."
Related Stories
ABC News Live