Panetta: Strikes will only 'delay' Iranian nukes

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that a military strike on Iran would only “delay” their efforts to build nuclear weapons, not end the Iranian program, and warned that Iranian acquisition of atomic bombs could spark a nuclear arms race throughout the Middle East.

“I think – talking to my friends – the indication is that at best it might postpone it maybe one, possibly two years,” Panetta said last night after a speech at the Saban Center on Middle East Policy. “It depends on the ability to truly get the targets that they’re after. Frankly, some of those targets are very difficult to get at. ”