Pompeo, Mattis defend U.S., Saudi alliance
The Trump administration’s determination to maintain warm ties with the Saudi royal family came into clear focus last week when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis showed up at the Senate.
Senators wanted to know more about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and U.S. support for Saudi airstrikes in Yemen.
Instead, Pompeo and Mattis kept pivoting to Iran.
A smile frozen on his face, Pompeo deflected a reporter’s question on why the CIA director had not appeared to brief senators on intelligence implicating Saudi Arabia’s crown prince in Khashoggi’s killing.
“I was asked to be here, and here I am,” Pompeo replied. When pressed again, he repeated the sentence almost verbatim: “I was asked to be here, and I’m here.”
Pompeo’s unwillingness to provide a more direct answer crystallized how awkward it has become to maintain a solid U.S. Saudi relationship as Congress threatens to cut off military funding for the country.
The administration considers Saudi Arabia an important and influential ally needed to push back against Iran, keep oil prices low and support the administration’s still-unveiled peace plan for Israelis and Palestinians.
But the explanations did not sit well with many senators seeking straightforward answers about the journalist’s murder and the crisis in Yemen, which the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
One senator summarized the hour with Pompeo and Mattis behind closed doors as “that horrible meeting.”
Both men summarized positions already laid down by President Donald Trump. But their defense of Saudi Arabia’s “strategic importance” to U.S. interests turned a harsh light on them.
The different emphasis they placed on the relationship shielded Mattis from criticism more than Pompeo. In his prepared remarks, the Pentagon chief cited the “twin requirements” of holding Khashoggi’s killers accountable and “the reality of Saudi Arabia as a necessary strategic partner.” In his opening statement, as released by the State Department, Pompeo did not mention Khashoggi.
The Khashoggi case has prompted some of the toughest criticism Pompeo has received since stepping down as CIA director to become secretary of state in April.