Remembering Pompeo's Cruel Foreign Policy Record

Pompeo presided over several major policy failures in Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea that had dire consequences for millions of people.

Matt Duss wades through Mike Pompeo’s terrible book:

But all of this is beside the point, because these aren’t arguments about policy, but declarations of faith. “Showing strength” isn’t a strategy—it’s an ideology. It’s unfalsifiable. If it doesn’t achieve the stated outcome, it can only be because not enough strength was shown, and therefore more strength is needed. This is a test for all of us, on both left and right, who want to help foster a more responsible and reality-based conversation about foreign policy: How do we bring our policy debates back within the realm of a set of agreed-upon facts?

The honest answer to Duss’ question is that I don’t know how we can do this, but I think a good place to start is to insist that policies be judged on their results and not on the intentions of the policymakers. If there is to be any accountability for the consequences of disastrous policies, policies have to be judged on what they do and not the best-case hopes that their advocates had for them. Pompeo wants to use his book to settle scores against his rivals, so let’s take this opportunity to assess Pompeo’s record and see how he measures up.

According to the Trump administration’s stated goals and Pompeo’s own demands, Pompeo presided over several major policy failures in Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea that had dire consequences for millions of people. He was also a leading defender and water-carrier for Washington’s despotic Saudi client as it ravaged Yemen, where tens of millions were subjected to the effects of blockade and war. If he had had his way, there would have been even more victims of his spiteful decision-making when he made a terrorism designation that would have triggered widespread famine in Yemen if it had remained in place any longer than it did. The policies Pompeo cheered on caused many evils, and he should have to answer for that.