14 March 2018

Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Tillerson Out, Pompeo at State, Haspel Promoted to DCIA

President Trump gave a shake to the US foreign policy snow globe yesterday. He fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson via Twitter, proving once again the president is a classless boss. He moved Mike Pompeo from the top job at the CIA to fill Mr. Tillerson's old seat. Taking over at the CIA is Gina Haspel, promoted from Deputy Director. The chatterati have tried to uncover how this changes US foreign policy in practice but to no avail. The fact is there is no real change at all.

Mr. Tillerson had to go because he went off the reservation about Russia one time too many. The Trump policy toward Mr. Putin's kleptocracy is one of obsequiousness and servility. Russia can do no wrong. On Monday, Mr. Tillerson stated that Russia had to answer for the chemical attack on the British town of Salisbury, and that violated the policy of the president. Perhaps, the attacker was some guy on his bed who weighs 400 pounds.

In moving Mr. Pompeo over to State, some have asserted that the new position will increase his influence with Mr. Trump. That is hardly plausible. Mr. Pompeo spends more time with Mr. Trump than any other member of the foreign policy bureaucracy. He already has the president's ear, and it is clear that his differences with Mr. Tillerson over policy are the same as Mr. Trump's differences. Mr. Pompeo's influence with the president won't increase because it is already at its maximum.

One is confident that his views always outweighed Mr. Tillerson's in the presidential decision-making process. Not only did he have greater access, but also he had views that were more aligned with Mr. Trump's neanderthal, zero-sum view of the world.

The one area that might change is in Congressional cooperation in foreign policy. Mr. Pompeo used to be a creature of Capitol Hill, he still has relationships with many right-wing legislators, and he knows how the House and Senate really work. If push comes to shove in any future stand-off in foreign affairs between the two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House will have a few extra arrows in its quiver.

More troubling is the move of Gina Haspel to the top job at the CIA. Mr. Trump is broadcasting what a great move this is for women, as she is the first female in the position. However, she is also the CIA officer who ran the black site in Thailand where the Bush administration tortured suspected Al Qaeda members through waterboarding and other methods of violating human rights. She is, in short, a war criminal. Mr. Trump's assertion, contrary to professional studies and experience, that torture works means that one can expect further human rights abuses in US foreign policy.

One hopes that the US Senate has the good sense not refuse her confirmation, but that is not a certainty. John McCain of Arizona is the one Republican who, as a former victim of torture, could prevent it, but his health is failing. Whether he can even attend the hearings or the vote on the floor of the Senate is doubtful.

In the end, though, the foreign policy of Donald Trump is that of Mr. Trump alone. His is ignorant of the world, fulsome in his prejudices and reluctant to do anything to improve his capacities. The caliber of people around him is merely a function of his own weaknesses, and there is little anyone could do to change it. The president's advisers are less important than what he sees on Fox News but only because they play to his prejudices there.

 © Copyright 2018 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.