Former CIA and Defense Head Leon Panetta release his new book “Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace .” According to USA Today : ” Americans should be braced for a long battle against the brutal terrorist group Islamic State that will test U.S. resolve — and the leadership of the commander in chief, says Leon Panetta, who headed the CIA and then the Pentagon as Al Qaeda was weakened and Osama bin Laden killed.”  

The piece continues: “In his first interview about his new book, Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace, Panetta argues that decisions made by President Obama over the past three years have made that battle more difficult — an explosive assessment by a respected policymaker of the president he served.”  

The interview is here:  

The Washington Post review states: “‘Worthy Fights’ is Panetta’s addition to the Cabinet bookshelf, and it’s very readable, with the frank descriptions of personalities and events that distinguish this genre at its best. There’s no point in writing a cautious memoir, after all; Panetta’s candor matches that of Robert M. Gates, his predecessor as secretary of defense, and he’s a good deal franker than former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is presumptively running for president and still has to be nice to people.”  

The New York Times review adds: “Typically frank, occasionally feisty and finally free of the constraints of clearing opinions with the White House, Mr. Panetta is re-emerging with a blunt account of his time in the Obama administration. In a new memoir to be published on Tuesday, Mr. Panetta draws a largely respectful portrait of a president who made important progress and follows a ‘well-reasoned vision for the country’ but too often ‘avoids the battle, complains, and misses opportunities.’”