Mike Pompeo: a bully boy calls at No 10
The visit of the hawkish US secretary of state poses problems for Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt
Simon Tisdall
Sat 4 May 2019 15.07 BST First published on Sat 4 May 2019 13.59 BST
American secretaries of state can be earnestly dull, like John Kerry, or plain brilliant, like George Marshall; they can be Machiavellian, like Henry Kissinger, or intensely political, like Hillary Clinton. Mike Pompeo, the bluntly spoken, present-day incumbent who will discuss shared global priorities with Theresa May in London, is simply a problem.
As last weeks failed US pressure tactics in Venezuela showed, the former army officer, Christian evangelical and ex-CIA director favours a muscular approach to diplomacy. His messianic drive to force regime change in Iran is another example. He recently suggested Donald Trump had been sent by God to save Israel from Tehrans mullahs.
Speaking in Cairo in January, Pompeo celebrated US support for dictators such as Egypts Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and the Saudis war in Yemen. Next month, he will help unveil a peace plan that could destroy any lingering Palestinian hopes of an independent state. But he makes no apologies. Ill put it bluntly, he declared. America is a force for good in the Middle East.
The difficulty for May and UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt is that this hawkish stance contradicts long-held British policies and principles. Since Pompeo took office last year, the US has scuppered the Iran nuclear deal, terminated a landmark missile reduction pact with Russia and withdrawn from the 2013 global arms trade treaty all of which Britain supports.
Pompeos state department continues to obstruct effective action on climate change. According to him, UN peacekeeping is a corrupt racket. And his diplomats recently watered down a UN resolution on combating rape as a weapon of war, to appease the anti-abortion lobby. On these and other issues, Pompeo acts as bagman for Trump. But he evidently believes it all, too.
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