RELATED:'US becoming weaker and weaker, hated in the region'US defense chief warns of Iran supplying weapons in IraqBut Panetta said Iraq would be able to handle itself and noted that America would still have some 40,000 troops in the region - not counting those fighting in Afghanistan."Iraq itself has developed an effective force to be able to deal with those threats," Panetta told reporters after meeting with Southeast Asian defense ministers on the Indonesian resort island of Bali."And what we've seen in the past when we had concerns about what Iran was doing was that Iraq itself conducted operations against those Shia extremist groups ... They did it in conjunction with our support, and we thought they did a great job. And they'll continue to do that."Iraq still faces a stubborn Sunni Islamist insurgency tied to al Qaida and rival Shi'ite militias, although violence there is down sharply from the sectarian slaughter of 2006-07.Over the summer, Panetta and other US officials accused Iran of backing a wave of militant attacks that made June the deadliest month for US troops since 2008.
Panetta confident Iraq able to handle Iranian threats
US to maintain significant presence in region following Iraq pullout, says US Defense Secretary; Clinton warns Iran not to exploit drawdown.
RELATED:'US becoming weaker and weaker, hated in the region'US defense chief warns of Iran supplying weapons in IraqBut Panetta said Iraq would be able to handle itself and noted that America would still have some 40,000 troops in the region - not counting those fighting in Afghanistan."Iraq itself has developed an effective force to be able to deal with those threats," Panetta told reporters after meeting with Southeast Asian defense ministers on the Indonesian resort island of Bali."And what we've seen in the past when we had concerns about what Iran was doing was that Iraq itself conducted operations against those Shia extremist groups ... They did it in conjunction with our support, and we thought they did a great job. And they'll continue to do that."Iraq still faces a stubborn Sunni Islamist insurgency tied to al Qaida and rival Shi'ite militias, although violence there is down sharply from the sectarian slaughter of 2006-07.Over the summer, Panetta and other US officials accused Iran of backing a wave of militant attacks that made June the deadliest month for US troops since 2008.