There are many reasons CIA Director Mike Pompeo should not be secretary of state, but his reckless, dishonest, and incoherent remarks about North Korea policy before the Senate last week may be chief among them. This becomes all the more troubling given President Trump’s Wednesday announcement that Pompeo is already at the forefront of U.S-North Korea relations, having met with Kim last week.
Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Pompeo spoke on Korea policy repeatedly, but two exchanges most deserve note. The first, at the 53-minute mark of C-SPAN’s video, began when Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) pressed Pompeo to clarify his preferred outcome for resolution of U.S.-North Korea tensions. Pompeo was evasive, claiming it is a “misstatement” to say he supports regime change and offering the exceedingly vague goal of “a position where Kim Jong-un is unable to threaten the United States with a nuclear weapon,” which could mean anything from assassination to Kim’s sudden embrace of the American Dream. When Cardin kept pushing, Pompeo said he has “never advocated for regime change” and is not doing so now, writes Bonnie Kristian.
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