Targeted Al Qaeda killings will save Defense dollars

From Spencer Ackerman at Wired  (The Panetta Doctrine: Declare Victory, Don't Go Home")

Panetta and Petraeus greet

Delivering the final blow to the U.S.’ main adversary of the last decade is a matter of taking down “somewhere around 10 to 20 key leaders,” Panetta said.

Spencer Ackerman

Ackerman adds:  

"Saying that bin Laden’s team is practically through makes it easy to justify drawing down troops in Afghanistan, a war currently costing $120 billion annually... It also means that the U.S. can live with practically any outcome in Afghanistan. (No more al-Qaida to worry about returning, right?) In its place come shadow wars — ostensibly limited global operations against Panetta’s ten or twenty residual terrorist leaders, driven by commandos and drones, not big troop commitments. It’s like clipping counterterrorism coupons."