Panetta: If Israel attacks Iran, US would need to defend itself

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told US Marines and sailors on Friday that "if Israel decides to go after Iran and we have to defend ourselves, we could be engaged sooner than any of us want," he said.

Our focus is on diplomacy and international pressure on Iran. I'm not going to speculate on what would happen in various scenarios other than to say that we will be ready," Carl Woog, Panetta's spokesman, said later. (AP)