NEW YORK — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says that after a decade of war with al-Qaida the potential for another devastating terrorist assault "remains real."
The Pentagon chief spoke Tuesday at ground zero of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, following a somber walk through the National September 11 Memorial park and museum with Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Panetta told reporters that Americans must remain vigilant against the threat of another successful al-Qaida attack.
"The potential for that kind of attack remains real," he said from the 10th floor of 7 World Trade Center, the first completed office tower at the site where hijacked commercial airliners were flown into the Twin Towers, killing more than 2,700 people.
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