(November 7, 2023)
MIKE POMPEO: I wish I could tell you I‘m surprised, but having led that organization, the State Department, this is the AOC, Rashida Tlaib wing of the State Department. These are classic appeasers who don‘t understand that the Israelis are acting in self-defense. They are taking out a terror threat that killed 1,400 of their citizens. They have not only the right to do it, but an obligation to do it.
(Sept. 21, 2019)
That about-face, so typically impulsive, instinctive and removed from any process, proved a decision point for a president who has often threatened to “totally destroy” enemies but at the same time has promised to extricate the United States from Middle East wars. It revealed a commander in chief more cautious than critics have assumed, yet underscored the limited options in a confrontation he had set in motion.
Three months later, some of Mr. Trump’s own allies fear the failure to follow through was taken by Iran as a sign of weakness, emboldening it to attack oil facilities in Saudi Arabia this month. Mr. Trump argues his decision was an expression of long-overdue restraint by a nation that has wasted too many lives and dollars overseas.
Pompeo, who had been fueling speculation about a potential bid, said choosing not to run in 2024 was a “deeply personal decision” for him and his wife, Susan. He had traveled to a series of early voting states in recent months.
Pompeo‘s endorsement the weekend before the midterm elections also comes after Trump said during a phone interview last month that „it would be very disloyal“ if any of his former Cabinet members ran against him for president in 2024. Both Pompeo and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley have teased their own presidential bids.
Spanish National High Court Judge Santiago Pedraz summoned Pompeo and former US counterintelligence official William Evanina as witnesses to explain the alleged assassination plot and whether they received information through the security firm.
Evanina allegedly previously confessed to having access to security camera footage and audio recordings from inside the Ecuadorian Embassy, Assange‘s lawyers claimed in letters seen by Spanish outlet The Objective.
(25.08.2020)
No sitting secretary of state had previously addressed a national political convention in at least 75 years.
„I didn’t hear a single thing that would give comfort to the very allies you spoke about. I’ve heard from people in the region. They are frightened by the American collapse—the American collapse of temerity and strength and power that we demonstrated for four years that had frankly kept the Taliban at bay and prevented precisely what you’re precisely seeing happen today, and I didn’t hear a single thing that would frighten a single Taliban who thinks there’s any risk that this administration would impose any cost on them for their activities, for what they are doing to Americans today and holding them hostage—not permitting them to get into the airport in Kabul so that we can get them home to their families. „
General Mark Milley, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, emerges in the report as a figure committed to procedural order and concerned by the possibility of erratic decisions by the firebrand lame-duck president; referring to the proposed strike against Iran‘s nuclear sites, he told Trump that “if you do this, you’re gonna have a f*cking war.“
He was eventually successful in blocking the plans of Pense, Pompeo and Netanyahu.
(14.07.2021)
Portions of the book related to Milley — first reported Wednesday night by CNN ahead of the book’s July 20 release — offer a remarkable window into the thinking of America’s highest-ranking military officer, who saw himself as one of the last empowered defenders of democracy during some of the darkest days in the country’s recent history.
The episodes in the book are based on interviews with more than 140 people, including senior Trump administration officials, friends and advisers, Leonnig and Rucker write in an author’s note.
(15.07.2021)
It was not public at the time, but Milley believed that the nation had come close—“very close”—to conflict with the Islamic Republic. This dangerous post-election period, Milley said, was all because of Trump’s “Hitler”-like embrace of the “Big Lie” that the election had been stolen from him; Milley feared it was Trump’s “Reichstag moment,” in which, like Adolf Hitler in 1933, he would manufacture a crisis in order to swoop in and rescue the nation from it.
A source told Reuters that the U.S. allies were “embarrassed” by Pompeo’s support for President Trump after he incited a violent riot at the Capitol last week. Luxembourg politician and NATO ally Jean Asselborn, whom Pompeo had attempted to schedule a meeting with on the trip, called President Trump a “criminal” during a radio appearance the day after the Capitol riot.
With just eight days left in office for President Donald Trump, Pompeo alleged that Iran has given safe haven to Al-Qaida leaders and support for the group, despite some skepticism within the intelligence community and Congress.
On Monday, Pompeo was seen meeting with Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen, according to Politico‘s White House Correspondant Meredith McGraw.
Trump’s comments in the form of Twitter posts on Saturday went against comments his secretary of state made less than 24 hours earlier.
SolarWinds, the company at the center of the attack, has not yet blamed any one country.
Der Angriff weitet sich stetig aus. Nicht nur werden immer mehr Betroffene bekannt, darunter die US-Atombehörde und der Softwarehersteller Microsoft, es wurde zudem offenbar weitere Software für die laut US-Behörden sehr ausgefeilten Angriffe manipuliert.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia and met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Israeli sources said Monday.
Mossad chief Yossi Cohen also attended the meeting, which took place in the city of Neom, according to the sources.
Mike Pompeo chose to end his term as secretary of state with a tour of solidarity with Israel’s extreme right, while spitting on decades of pre-Trump U.S. foreign policy, on the norms of international law and on justice. On Wednesday he came across more like an extremist leader of the Yesha Council of settlements than as the foreign minister of the superpower. It’s a good thing that this will presumably be his last official visit. It’s a good thing that he will soon leave office.
Le Drian said Friday that he would raise the concerns of France – which has been hit by a number of jihadist attacks – over Trump’s plans to speed up the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
In an arrival tweet posted Saturday, Pompeo highlighted the “shared values: democracy, freedom, and rule of law” between the US and France. “The strong relationship between our countries cannot be overestimated, and I’m looking forward to my discussions here in Paris,” he said.
Joel Rayburn, currently deputy assistant secretary and special envoy for Syria, will take on the responsibilities of engagement with Syria.
Ambassador Nathan Sales, the coordinator for counterterrorism, will take on the role of special envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
Until now, the U.S. has maintained relations with the Maldives through the U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka.
Pompeo will be joined by Defense Secretary Mark Esper in New Delhi on Monday and Tuesday for annual talks.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to meet the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia on Friday in a fresh attempt to end nearly a month of bloodshed, in which hundreds have been killed.
During a press conference last week, Pompeo said the US supported “a robust program of arm sales to Saudi Arabia, a line of effort that helps the Kingdom protect its citizens and sustains American jobs.”
Esper’s comments also followed an announcement by Australia that it will take part in a large-scale military drill off the coast of India next month, the Malabar naval exercise, together with India, the United States and Japan.
Aber man kann nicht eine „Amerika zuerst“-Außenpolitik betreiben, wenn man Leute wie Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, Nikki Haley, Mark Milley und andere damit betraut. Sie werden es einfach nicht tun. Das sehen wir wieder, wenn es darum geht, unsere Truppen aus dem langen und törichten Krieg in Afghanistan abzuziehen.
But you cannot pursue an “America first” foreign policy if you put people like Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, Nikki Haley, Mark Milley, and others in charge of carrying it out. They simply won’t do it. We are seeing that again when it comes to withdrawing our troops from the long and foolish war in Afghanistan.
Am Donnerstagnachmittag (Ortszeit) ist ein Treffen mit US-Außenminister Mike Pompeo geplant. Die Aufmerksamkeit richtet sich darauf, ob eine von Präsident Moon Jae-in vorgeschlagene Erklärung des Kriegsendes auf der koreanischen Halbinsel und die jüngste Militärparade Nordkoreas thematisiert werden.
„She said she had 33,000 e-mails,“ Trump told Fox News on Thursday. „They‘re in the State Department, but Mike Pompeo is unable to get them out, which is very sad actually. I‘m — I‘m not happy about him for that, that reason. He was unable to get — I don‘t know why. You‘re running the State Department and you get them out. But they‘re in the State Department.“
In Tokyo on Tuesday, Pompeo and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will have a meeting with the foreign ministers of Australia and India in a move that is seen as a counter to China‘s growing assertiveness in the region.
Amid plans by Croatia to purchase 12 new fighter jets, Plenkovic and Pompeo confirmed that this was also one of the topics discussed. As media reported earlier, the bidders for the contract are the US, Sweden, France and Israel.
No decision has been taken yet, Pompeo told journalists on a flight from Rome to Dubrovnik in Croatia.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to cease hostilities, Reuters reports.
Pompeo said during a visit to Crete that he had discussed the clashes in talks earlier with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.
The Grayzone has learned that several correspondents from a major US newspaper rebuffed appeals by Wikileaks to report on the illegal spying campaign by UC Global, privately justifying the contractor’s actions on national security grounds.