David Hale nominated to Middle East ‘political’ role
A decade ago Hezbollah shot down a Lebanese army helicopter provided by an American-run programme supervised by nominee to be undersecretary of state for political affairs, David Hale.
Seven years later, in 2015, Hezbollah’s ranking parliamentarian Nawaf Mousaoui threatened Mr Hale, then ambassador to Lebanon, after his criticism of the Iranbacked organisation.
“The days of our enemies are numbered,” said Mr Mousaoui. Unfazed, Mr Hale continued with his Beirut mission before moving to Islamabad later that year.
Then, on Tuesday, the White House said President Donald Trump had nominated him to be undersecretary of state for political affairs.
Those who know him refer to Mr Hale, 57, as a “diplomat’s diplomat”.
The nomination, which requires confirmation by the Senate foreign relations committee, brings back diplomatic gravitas to the position.
One Middle East politician who worked with the nominee described him as patient, strategic, capable of navigating hostile territory and thinking outside the box.
Mr Hale served as an ambassador to Jordan and Lebanon, as special envoy and deputy special envoy for Middle East peace, and former executive assistant to the secretary of state from 1997 and 1998.
His nomination as No 3 three at the State Department to replace Thomas Shannon should be credited to Mike Pompeo who picked him for the position, said Danielle Pletka, the vice-president for foreign and defence policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
“Kudos to Mike Pompeo for getting this done” Ms Pletka told The National.
She called Mr Hale “a seasoned, serious foreign service officer. And it’s right to have an FSO at the top of the department,” she said.
“The foreign service is our diplomatic corps. Their voice should be clear at the top of the organisation.”
Firas Maksad, the director of the Arabia Foundation, called him “a respected career diplomat who knows the complexities of the Middle East and is not an ideologue”.
It is unclear who will replace Mr Hale as ambassador to Pakistan, but the Senate is expected to move quickly on his nomination in the coming weeks.