Give sanctions time, Panetta says

On his first trip to Hawaii as defense secretary, Leon Panetta stressed the need to give international sanctions enough time to work on Iran and Syria as talk grows of military intervention.

"We’ve made very clear we’re going to prevent (Iran) from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and we are also going to ensure that they do not close the Strait of Hormuz," Panetta said Thursday in a briefing with reporters at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa.

"(But) we think the sanctions are working. We think that diplomacy and holding the international community together in applying that pressure needs to continue — and that’s the right way to go right now," he said. "We hope that Israel will continue to be part of that international effort."

Panetta said another goal is "to approach the issue of Syria on an international basis."

The United States is working with the international community, including the Arab League, to try to develop strategies that will continue to put pressure on Syria, he said.

Panetta added that "we looked at military options, we plan for military options, but at this point in time the president feels very strongly that we should continue the international pressure against Syria because we think it is having a significant impact on (President Bashar Assad) and is weakening his regime — and that’s the way to go."

Panetta, who has been defense secretary since July 1, will preside over the change of command at U.S. Pacific Command at 10 a.m. today at Camp Smith with Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Adm. Samuel Locklear III is assuming command of U.S. forces in the Pacific from Adm. Robert Willard, who is retiring.

Panetta spoke to reporters about issues ranging from Iran and Syria to the growing importance of Asia and the Pacific.

As Israel grows increasingly nervous about progress made on Iran’s nuclear program, Panetta said, "we obviously respect their (Israel’s) sovereignty."

"We understand that they have to make decisions that are in their interest. The United States also has to make decisions that are in our interest, and we will, obviously we will do whatever we can to defend Israel," he said.

Panetta also talked about maintaining U.S. force levels in the Pacific but did not discuss increasing them, with budget cuts of $487 billion mandated over 10 years as a backdrop.

"We are a Pacific power. We’re going to remain a Pacific power — and in order to do that we need to have force projection in the Pacific," he said.

The Navy has a "strong presence" in the region, and the U.S. will maintain its fleet, aircraft carrier presence and Air Force and bomber capabilities, Panetta said.

Oahu is home to "one of our largest and most important combatant commands," Panetta added.

"As we emphasize and focus on the Pacific region, this will remain a very important command, a very important base, and we will continue to stress its importance in the future," he said.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Ino­­uye recently told the Star-Advertiser he expects Hawaii to receive about 1,000 Marines from Oki­nawa.

The Pentagon planned to shift 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam, but with continuing problems with Japan over a 2006 relocation agreement, the plan has changed.

About half the previously planned total, or 4,000 Marines, will now go to Guam, Ino­uye said. The remainder is expected to be split between Australia and Hawaii.

Panetta said the U.S. is in discussions with Japan to reduce the Marines’ presence on Okinawa, but "as far as Hawaii is concerned, I’m not going to get into discussions that obviously the Marines are going to make as we go through this process — but there’s no question that as I said, the Pacific is going to be very important to us in terms of our military presence."

Panetta praised the job Willard did as head of U.S. Pacific Command, saying "he really led that command with great distinction."

But Panetta added that "one of the great things about the United States military is that we have a great bench," and that Locklear had great success leading NATO forces in Libya.

"That was a tough job — 18 nations that were involved with that, and he did a tremendous job being able to put that together," Panetta said. "He will be a great commander here as well."