{"id":62954,"date":"2018-04-13T04:29:38","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T04:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=62954"},"modified":"2018-04-13T04:29:38","modified_gmt":"2018-04-13T04:29:38","slug":"trading-snarl-smile-pompeo-makes-case-lead-state-dept","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/trading-snarl-smile-pompeo-makes-case-lead-state-dept.html","title":{"rendered":"Trading Snarl for Smile, Pompeo Makes Case to Lead State Dept."},"content":{"rendered":"

Trading Snarl for Smile, Pompeo Makes Case to Lead State Dept.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

President Trump has in his first year marginalized American diplomats, sought to slash the State Department\u2019s budget and reversed crucial pieces of his predecessor\u2019s economic and diplomatic opening to Cuba. But Mike Pompeo promised on Thursday to reverse nearly all of that if he becomes the next secretary of state.<\/span><\/p>\n

In five hours of testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Pompeo, now the C.I.A. director, said he was hoping for a diplomatic solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis, still believed that the Iran nuclear deal could be saved, disagreed with the president\u2019s assertion that poor relations with Russia had been caused by the special counsel\u2019s investigation and, perhaps most remarkably, promised to defend gay rights around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was voluble, charming and gracious, which meant he was the opposite of how he had presented himself during the 2015 Benghazi hearings, the last time he had the nation\u2019s attention. Then, he was the scowling, scathing attack dog hounding Hillary Clinton. On Thursday, he smiled throughout the hearing, occasionally even agreeing with Democrats.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the State Department, there are too many holes, too many vacancies, too many unfilled positions,\u201d Mr. Pompeo said in one of his many promises to restore the department to its former glory after his predecessor, Rex W. Tillerson, pushed out hundreds of diplomats. The vow was greeted with relief by nearly all on the panel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under persistent questioning, Mr. Pompeo said he had spoken to Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating Russia\u2019s meddling in the 2016 election. But Mr. Pompeo refused to describe what he had said, maintaining that he was at the hearing to discuss foreign policy.<\/span><\/p>\n

His testimony in both tone and substance was so different from his past statements and profile as a Tea Party congressman from Wichita, Kan., that Democrats on the committee were left puzzled and, almost despite themselves, delighted. Gone was any hint of the warmonger his critics have portrayed him as.<\/span><\/p>\n

At one point, Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat of Maryland, turned to Senator Bob Corker, the committee\u2019s chairman and a Tennessee Republican, and said: \u201cMr. Chairman, if I could, I would like to compliment the nominee for giving concise answers. It\u2019s refreshing to have a nominee who really answers our questions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, summarized the Democrats\u2019 dilemma.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs we close here, I\u2019m trying to think about which of the Mike Pompeos that I\u2019m asked to vote on,\u201d he said. \u201cIs it the one that today said the solution to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is through diplomacy, which I would agree, or is it the one that said the only way to do that in my judgment is a regime change in a speech of 2015?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Corker promised to \u201cavidly support\u201d Mr. Pompeo\u2019s confirmation. But with Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, making clear during the hearing that he still opposed many of Mr. Pompeo\u2019s views, the nomination will not pass the committee without the vote of at least one Democrat.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is still expected to pass the full Senate, however. And nothing he said on Thursday is likely to change that.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a week when Mr. Trump issued a fusillade of tweets about Syria, Russia and China that set a new standard for contradictory and inconsistent policy positions, the senators asked whether Mr. Pompeo would push back against the president\u2019s worst instincts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile at times the president may act or speak impulsively,\u201d Mr. Corker said, \u201cwe have also seen that good counsel has led the president to evolve, from my perspective, to a much better place on a number of important issues.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If confirmed, Mr. Pompeo would be the Trump administration\u2019s second secretary of state in less than 15 months. In his opening statement, Mr. Pompeo signaled that he planned to harvest a forceful diplomacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said he would take a tough line against Russia. And as planning was underway at the White House and the Pentagon for a potential missile strike on Syria in retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack against civilians, Mr. Pompeo, a former Army captain, stressed that \u201cwar is always the last resort.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would prefer achieving the president\u2019s foreign policy goals with unrelenting diplomacy rather than by sending young men and women to war,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite some surprising comity, the hearing produced tense moments. Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, asked a series of pointed questions about Mr. Pompeo\u2019s previous denunciations of American Muslim leaders for what he called their \u201csilence\u201d in response to a terrorist attack.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Pompeo replied that he believed Islamic religious leaders had a particular \u201copportunity\u201d to denounce terrorism by Muslims, rather than a responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Booker agreed that \u201csilence in the face of injustice lends strength to that injustice.\u201d However, he took issue with \u201csaying certain Americans \u2014 I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Muslims that serve on my staff \u2014 if they\u2019re in positions of leadership,\u201d they \u201csuddenly have a special obligation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The senator then pivoted to ask if Mr. Pompeo had denounced anti-Muslim news media personalities he had appeared with, or whether he stood by comments he had made as a congressman that gay sex and same-sex marriage were a \u201cperversion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Pompeo said that he still believed same-sex marriage was inappropriate, but that he supported gay couples in the government. \u201cMy respect for every individual regardless of sexual orientation is the same,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Flagging morale at the State Department was also front and center. Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, noted that Mr. Tillerson had left the department in \u201ca blue funk.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Pompeo vowed to raise the department\u2019s morale. He diverged from Mr. Tillerson\u2019s vision for the nation\u2019s diplomatic corps, telling Senator Todd Young, Republican of Indiana, that he did not foresee any slowing of its mission or reduction in personnel.<\/span><\/p>\n

In one prominent example, Mr. Pompeo suggested that he would return some of the American diplomats who were withdrawn from Cuba last year after they were sickened in what some suspect was a covert attack with Havana\u2019s knowledge. Mr. Trump has tightened restrictions on travel and trade with Cuba.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cConsistent with keeping folks safe, we will build out a team there,\u201d Mr. Pompeo told Senator Tom Udall, Democrat of New Mexico, also suggesting that he would push for increased agricultural sales in Cuba.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two sitting senators and former Senator Bob Dole, the longtime Republican leader from Kansas, introduced Mr. Pompeo to the committee and spoke highly of his credentials.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Dole, 94, warmed up the panel. \u201cI can see all you people up there,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t see very well, so you look good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Senator Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, assured his peers that Mr. Pompeo was transparent and a \u201cnatural fit\u201d for the job.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI asked Mike to lead the C.I.A. in an ethical, moral and legal manner,\u201d Mr. Burr said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m here to tell you that he did exactly that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He asked those on the committee to examine Mr. Pompeo\u2019s nomination on the merits alone. \u201cIf there\u2019s ever one where you put politics aside, this is it,\u201d Mr. Burr said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/04\/12\/us\/politics\/mike-pompeo-secretary-state.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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