Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Saturday ripped President Donald Trump's call for a military parade in Washington, saying that "people put on that kind of parade because they're insecure, because they have got to show the world that somehow they're really tough.
"We don't have to do that," Panetta, who served under former President Barack Obama, told Ana Cabrera on CNN. "That's not what the United States has to do.
"We have the confidence to know that we are strong, that we're tough — and that we're the best fighters, warriors, the best defense system on the face of the Earth.
"I don't think we have to resort to putting that on display in order to show others who we are," he said. "We know who we are — and that should be enough."
President Trump continued to catch flak from across the political spectrum after reports this week that he ordered Pentagon officials last month to plan a military parade in Washington.
The event would feature troops, tanks and other hardware and would mirror Bastille Day celebrations in France.
Panetta, 79, also a former CIA director and White House chief of staff, told Cabrera that he would only endorse a parade that "pays tribute to our men and women who serve this country, pays tribute to our veterans.
"Then, that certainly can be done.
"But if we're talking about some kind of display of all of our missiles and equipment, that's where I would draw the line."
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