For some reason I thought Panetta had their guns taken away because the DHS thinks military is filled with potential terrorists while the Muzzie terrorists are the Fed’s friends!
Panetta didn’t order the weapons taken...it was the new general of US troops in Afghanistan. It’s very likely to turn into some US policy that if Afghan dignitaries show up on any base...you have to meet them without any weapons in your possession. I have doubts that any junior enlisted guys will agree to this order...and it’ll be just the big-wig officers who attend such meetings in the future.
It would have been ironic if the jihadi had gotten Panetta because all the US soldiers that could have stopped him had been disarmed for the visit.
I honestly think the Fedgov fears a coup. Or at least an attack.