I guess Def-Sec Panetta was scared of getting arrested for treason by his troops...his Marines were disarmed

Soldiers asked to disarm during Leon Panetta speech in Afghanistan
US soldiers were asked to disarm during a speech by Leon Panetta, the American defence secretary, in a sign of grown concern over spates of seemingly random violence in Afghanistan.

Raf Sanchez, Washington
The Telegraph
14 Mar 2012

A large security detail surrounds Leon Panetta during his visit to Afghanistan. Nato's forces have been seeking to step up the vetting of the thousands of Afghans who work on military bases Photo: GETTY  

Less than a week after a US staff sergeant allegedly massacred 16 civilians in Kandahar, American soldiers were banned from bringing guns into a talk by Mr Panetta at a base in Helmand province.

Around 200 troops who had gathered in a tent at Camp Leatherneck were told "something had come to light" and asked abruptly to file outside and lay down their automatic rifles and 9mm pistols.

"Somebody got itchy, that's all I've got to say. Somebody got itchy – we just adjust," said the sergeant who was told to clear the hall of weapons.

Major General Mark Gurganus later said he gave the order because Afghan troops attending the talk were unarmed and he wanted the policy to be consistent for all.

"You've got one of the most important people in the world in the room," he told the New York Times, insisting that the decision was unrelated to Sunday's killings. "This is not a big deal."

However, US troops often remain armed even when their Afghan colleagues have been asked to lay down their weapons and the incident is believed to be the first time they were stripped of guns during an address by their own secretary of defense.

The Ministry of Defence was unable to confirm reports that a small number of British troops had also been asked to put down their weapons.

Mr Panetta told the troops that the massacre of civilians and the resulting Afghan fury would not affect plans to keep US troops in the country until the end of 2014.

"We will be challenged by our enemies, we will be challenged by ourselves, we will be challenged by the hell of war itself," he said.

Additional info:

• There you have it: Our country now answers to foreign globalists & interests and not the U.S. Constitution (Shocking news w/ video)

Panetta escapes assassination attempt

Press TV
Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:25PM

The US Defense Secretary has been the target of a suspected car bomb attack after a man drove a stolen vehicle onto the runway where Leon Panetta’s plane was to land in Afghanistan, reports say.

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta listens during a meeting with 

Afghan Interior Minister Besmullah Mohammadi in 

Kabul on March 14, 2012. Press TV

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement that "the alleged perpetrator" had been detained.

"At no point was the secretary or anyone on the aircraft in any danger from this incident," it added on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters in Kabul, Panetta's spokesman, George Little, confirmed the incident saying an Afghan man crashed into a ditch before emerging from the vehicle "ablaze."

It is not yet clear whether the incident was a coincidence or Panetta was the victim of a targeted attack.

• Panetta a target? 'Car bomb' at UK Afghan base as Defense Sec. lands 

Little said the vehicle struck and injured an ISAF service member.

Panetta’s visit comes after a US trooper on Sunday shot dead more than 16 Afghan civilians inside their homes-- most of them women and children -- in southern province of Kandahar.

The US defense secretary held talks with provincial leaders and also addressed around 200 US Marines and other troops in a tent at Camp Leatherneck, who were suddenly asked by their commander to get up, place their weapons outside the tent and then return unarmed.

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan have been a major source of tension between Kabul and Washington.

Anti-American sentiments in Afghanistan have also risen due to the desecration of the Holy Qur’an in a US-run military airbase last month.

PG/JR/HGH

BREAKING NEWS: Panetta targeted? 'Car bomb' explodes as Defense Sec. lands (RT News)

Panetta a target? 'Car bomb' at UK Afghan base as Defense Sec. lands
RT NEWS
Published: 14 March, 2012, 20:09

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta listens during a meeting 

with  Afghan Interior Minister Besmullah Mohammadi in Kabul 

on March 14, 2012 (AFP Photo / Massoud Hossani) 

A vehicle drove onto the runway at Camp Bastion, the main British military base in Afghanistan, then burst into flames at roughly the same time the US Defense Secretary arrived this morning.

A pickup truck drove at high speed onto the ramp where Leon Panetta's plane was intended to stop. The vehicle used for what is believed to be an attempted attack was apparently stolen by a civilian employee at Camp Bastion, the Associated Press reports.

The driver, who has survived the incident but suffered burns as his clothes caught flame, was immediately arrested. He is receiving medical treatment. The driver’s identity is still unknown.
Some reports suggest the vehicle's driver has detonated the blast. According to others, the vehicle ignited after it crashed into a ditch, and there was no explosion, but only a flash.

One British service member was reportedly injured prior to the explosion as he tried to stop the perpetrator from stealing the truck.

No explosives were found in the vehicle or on the driver as he was arrested, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby stated.

Though it is not yet clear whether the explosion was a coincidence, or if Panetta was the target of a suicide attack, the base was put on lockdown after the incident. “It's too early to say right now,” Kirby said. ”It may have been a coincidence.”

In the wake of the incident, flights and movements around Camp Bastion were restricted while military police patrolled the roads and investigated the case.

“Procedures were put in place to account for the whereabouts of all military and civilian personnel and, to achieve this, movement within Camp Bastion was restricted,” a spokeswoman for the base said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

Kirby confirmed that neither Panetta nor anyone in his party was injured. A spokesman for the NATO-led Isaf force also said that “at no point was anyone on board Panetta’s plane at risk.”
Panetta has proceeded with his plans to meet with Afghan government officials in Kabul.
Panetta’s visit was aimed at defusing the tension that has plagued NATO's mission in Afghanistan in recent weeks, following a series of what the Secretary of Defense called “troubling incidents”.

An accidental burning of several copies of the Koran in a US base provoked a spate of riots from offended Muslims.

And over the weekend, a mentally unstable US soldier killed 16 civilian villagers at random in the volatile province of Kandahar.

"We have to learn the lessons from each incident so we do everything possible they don't happen again," Panetta said to an audience of US troops upon his arrival in Afghanistan, adding that the "tragic" incidents "do not define the relationship between the coalition forces and the Afghan people."