Years of soft US policy toward Russia are “now over,” Mike Pompeo, the hard-charging CIA director picked to be the next US secretary of state, was to tell the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations yesterday, according to a prepared statement.
Drawing a sharp contrast with former US secretary of state Rex Tillerson, Pompeo was to vow to promote democracy and human rights while ending “demoralizing” vacancies at the US Department of State, excerpts of his remarks obtained from a senior administration official showed.
Pompeo was to chastise Russia for acting “aggressively” and emphasize that US President Donald Trump’s administration considers Russia “a danger to our country.”
Photo: AP
However, he would also say that diplomatic efforts with Moscow, while challenging, “must continue.”
Pompeo would also stress the US’ “duty to lead,” despite Trump’s vows to put “America first.”
“If we do not lead the calls for democracy, prosperity and human rights around the world, who will?” he Pompeo planned to say. “No other nation is equipped with the same blend of power and principle.”
Pompeo’s remarks before the committee was to be the first chance for lawmakers and the public to hear directly from the former Kansas congressman about his approach to diplomacy and the role of the State Department, should he be confirmed to lead it.
Pompeo’s views on global issues are well known — he was questioned extensively by senators for his confirmation to run the CIA — but Democratic senators have raised questions about his fitness to be top diplomat, given his hawkish views and past comments about minorities.
“When journalists, most of whom have never met me, label me — or any of you — as ‘hawks,’ ‘war hardliners,’ or worse, I shake my head,” the former US Army officer was to say. “There are few who dread war more than those of us who have served in uniform.”
“War is always the last resort,” he was to add.
Since being nominated last month, Pompeo has spent much of his time at the State Department immersing himself in briefing books and undergoing mock hearings and prep meetings on key issues, such as Iran, Syria and North Korea, as well as the department’s inner workings, a person close to Pompeo said.
He has also spoken to all eight living former secretaries — including Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom he famously criticized over the 2012 attack on US facilities in Benghazi, Libya.
Pompeo’s chief goal yesterday was to convince senators that he intends to strengthen the State Department and re-establish its relevance as a major player in national security policy, said the person, who was not authorized to comment by name and requested anonymity.
That message is an implicit contrast with Tillerson, who left scores of top positions unfilled and the diplomatic corps dispirited before being unceremoniously fired by Trump on Twitter last month.
Pompeo was to tell Senate that as he with State Department workers recently, every single one told him he or she wanted to be “empowered in their roles” and clear about Trump’s mission.
“That will be my first priority,” Pompeo was to say. “They also shared how demoralizing it is to have so many vacancies and frankly, not to feel relevant. I’ll do my part to end the vacancies, but I’ll need your help.”
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not