US ‘Diplomats are Begging for Help’ - and Could Do Worse Than Pompeo

© AP Photo / Andrew HarnikPresident Donald Trump, accompanied by CIA Director-designate Rep. Michael Pompeo, left, waits to speak at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017
President Donald Trump, accompanied by CIA Director-designate Rep. Michael Pompeo, left, waits to speak at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 - Sputnik International
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CIA director and nominee for secretary of state Mike Pompeo may not be the worst potential leader of US State Department when it comes to the well-being of its diplomatic corps as they struggle amid pressure from Donald Trump’s White House, which seems bent on destroying the department by cutting its budget and leaving key posts unfilled.

"Should he be confirmed as secretary of state, I would hope that he would be a person that would try to build back up the capabilities of the State Department, which we are definitely going to need on the issue of North Korea, the pending issue on whether the Trump administration is going to deep-six the Iran nuclear deal," anti-war activist Ann Wright, a retired colonel from the US Army, told Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear program on Monday.

"Right now, professional diplomats are begging for help," she emphasized.

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Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson "was moderate in his views but had no spine when the White House ordered the destruction of the State Department. I would hope that Pompeo would stand up for the State Department. He certainly knows how governmental organizations work, having been in Congress, [he has] a little bit of a background in the military… Right now we need someone who will help the institution of the State Department."

Pompeo has so far served in the Trump administration as the head of America's notorious spy agency, the CIA.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo speaks at a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on worldwide threats, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, in Washington. - Sputnik International
Pompeo's Nomination as US Secretary of State Approved by Senate Committee
"If you ask CIA people, which I have, they say that, politics aside, he's actually been a good manager, in that he has done all he can to back his people up and to argue their case before the oversight committees," said Loud & Clear host John Kiriakou, a veteran intelligence professional.

On Monday, Pompeo's nomination to lead the State Department made it through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by a narrow 11-10 vote. Pompeo's nomination ultimately will go to the Senate floor with a favorable recommendation.

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