Now more than ever, America needs a serious, seasoned diplomat at the helm of the State Department. Those who doubt it need look no further than North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, our confused position in the Middle East, our burgeoning new cold war with Russia, or a looming and deeply pointless trade war with China.
Each one of these crises and many others carries real risk to millions of Americans. On the 15th anniversary of the beginning of the disastrous Iraq War – launched as a result of failed diplomacy, politicized intelligence, inexperienced leadership and strategic malpractice – we cannot forget the consequences of American presidents failing to take diplomacy seriously.
President Donald Trump clearly hasn’t learned this lesson yet. His first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, seems destined to be remembered as one of the most ineffective leaders in the department’s long history. He leaves behind a diplomatic corps drained of both talent and purpose, sidelined at home and abroad and ill-equipped to manage a witch’s brew of primarily self-imposed crises. To be fair, Tillerson’s best efforts were constantly undercut by President Trump, who never wasted an opportunity to sabotage and humiliate his chief diplomat with a midnight tweet or two.
So it is critical that the Senate insist upon a replacement for Tillerson who, at an absolute minimum, is experienced in international statecraft, values diplomacy and the work of the State Department, and stands ready to check President Trump’s worst impulses. That is a fairly low bar, but one that Mike Pompeo will struggle to clear.
For instance, Pompeo is a vociferous opponent of the Iran Deal, a piece of hard-fought diplomacy that, to this day, is preventing Tehran from securing a nuclear weapon. At his confirmation hearing, Pompeo pledged to “objectively monitor” Iran’s compliance with the agreement; however, he has since consistently advocated for withdrawing the United States against the advice of the administration’s own military leaders. Pompeo’s refusal to support such a diplomatic victory raises questions as to whether he will be effective when confronting the likes of North Korea across the negotiating table.
Pompeo’s history on torture also casts doubt on his suitability for the role of chief diplomat. In 2014, then-Congressman Pompeo responded to the Senate torture report by defending the methods used by the CIA. While he claimed in his confirmation hearing last year that he would “absolutely not” restart the use of enhanced interrogation tactics, he walked that reversal back days later, saying he would consider changing the current law if he felt it necessary. This back-and-forth is far from the unwavering commitment to American values that our secretary of state should exemplify.
The list goes on. As director of the CIA, Pompeo met with conspiracy theorists at the president’s behest, and publicly disagreed with the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in our 2016 election. He’s associated with Islamophobic individuals like Frank Gaffney, a former defense official turned radio host on whose program Pompeo agreed that President Obama had an “affinity” for ISIS in 2015. And he’s a climate change denier, unlikely to oppose the administration’s relentless efforts to pull the United States away from every international effort to stop the harmful effects (and security risks) of rising global temperatures.
All of that is enough for any senator to think very carefully before voting to confirm him. But we must also consider the larger context in which Pompeo would serve: John Bolton, one of the architects of the Iraq War and a shameless advocate for attacks on both Iran and North Korea, will be President Trump’s next national security adviser. This tireless cheerleader for war will serve a president who habitually insults foreign leaders, cavalierly threatens nations with “fire and fury,” and generally shows a reflex toward violent escalation and a complete lack of impulse control.
Diplomacy can sound like a soft word – something for an Ivy League faculty lounge. But it is nothing less than the decision point between difficult discussions at a conference table and young Americans being sent to kill and die far from home.
The first time I left New Hampshire was 15 years ago; I was one of those young Americans, heading to Iraq with an infantry company. At this of all times, under this president of all presidents, the Senate must insist that Americans have a secretary of state with the experience and character to navigate some very dangerous terrain in Washington and around the world. The hour demands a remarkable leader – but based on his record, it is far from clear that Mike Pompeo is up to the challenge.
(Michael Breen, a Portsmouth native, is a U.S. Army veteran and the president and CEO of Truman National Security Project.)