#CycloneIdai Affects Over a Million People in #Mozambique, #Zimbabwe & #Malawi

March 22, 2019 By in AF |Africa, Disasters, Federal Agencies, Foreign Assistance, State Department, U.S. Missions, USAID Tags: , , , , , , , ,

 

Secretary of State Pompeo: It’s “possible” Trump sent by God to save Jewish people from Iran

March 22, 2019 By in Foreign Policy, Mike Pompeo, Pompeo, Secretary of State, State Department, Trends, Trump, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , ,

 

Transcript: 03/21/19 Interview With Chris Mitchell and David Brody of Christian Broadcasting Network;  Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo; David Citadel Hotel; Jerusalem

QUESTION:  Okay.  Look where you are today.  But your faith has informed your views, clearly.  And not only that, but you’re not shy to talk about it.  And I’m wondering about how that – how that really manifests in your life.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  So of course my mission as a Secretary of State, the thing I rose my – raised my right hand to do, I swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.  And I’ve done that now a handful of times – first as a soldier, then as a member of Congress, then as the director of the CIA, now as Secretary of State.  But in each of those missions, the task that I have is informed by my understanding of my faith, my belief in Jesus Christ as the savior.  It doesn’t drive answers and outcomes every day; we all as Christians are searching.  But it does inform how I try to treat every human being with dignity and respect in ways that Christians ought to.  I don’t always live up to that standard, but it does inform the way I think about the world.  I think that makes a real difference, and so I want people to know.  It’s why I talk about it from to time.  I want folks to know the perspective that I am bringing to the challenges in the job that I face, and it also requires me to try to hold myself to the standards that Christians hold themselves out for.

QUESTION:  And you also mentioned a Bible story last night when you had your statements with the prime minister.  Today’s being Purim, a celebration.  Jews worldwide and here in Jerusalem are talking about the fact that Esther 2,500 years ago saved the Jewish people with God’s help from Haman.  And now 2,500 years later there’s a new Haman here in the Middle East that wants to eradicate the Jewish people like just like Haman did: the state of Iran.  Could it be that President Trump right now has been sort of raised for such a time as this, just like Queen Esther, to help save the Jewish people from the Iranian menace?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  As a Christian I certainly believe that’s possible.  It was remarkable – so we were down in the tunnels where we could see 3,000 years ago, and 2,000 years ago – if I have the history just right – to see the remarkable history of the faith in this place and the work that our administration’s done to make sure that this democracy in the Middle East, that this Jewish state remains.  I am confident that the Lord is at work here.

@StateDept Dedicates the New U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia @usembassyjkt

March 20, 2019 By in Ambassadors, EAP|East Asia, Functional Bureaus, New Embassy, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , ,

 

Via State Department: 03/19/19 The Department of State Dedicates the New U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia

As a display of our enduring friendship and important partnerships with Indonesia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph R. Donovan Jr., Chargé d’affaires for the U.S. Mission to ASEAN Jane Bocklage, and Director of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) Addison D. “Tad” Davis IV, along with Indonesian Government officials, dedicated the new U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia today.

The new complex provides a secure, modern, sustainable, and resilient platform for U.S. diplomacy in Indonesia and the ASEAN region.

Davis Brody Bond Architects and Planners of New York, New York is the design architect for the project and Page of Washington, D.C. is the architect of record. B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, Alabama constructed the facility.

Since 1999, as part of the Department’s Capital Security Construction Program, OBO has completed 154 new diplomatic facilities and has an additional 49 projects in design or under construction.

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Ambassador Donovan notes that “This celebration comes at a very opportune time, as this year we are also celebrating 70 years of diplomatic ties between the United States and Indonesia. The United States was one of the first countries to recognize Indonesia’s independence, establishing our first embassy on December 28, 1949. When President Truman appointed the first U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, H. Merle Cochran, he reaffirmed U.S. support welcoming Indonesia into the “community of free nations.”

He added that architects and designers took into consideration Jakarta’s climate and that the building uses the latest in environmental sustainability features that reduces energy consumption. The covered walkways are topped with solar panels  and the exterior metal sunshades limit sun exposure and reduce the demand for air conditioning. The building’s design reportedly also incorporates water conservation strategies to irrigate the green landscaped areas by collecting and re-using storm run-off.

The primary building is finished but the State Department is also constructing a heritage building on the site used by a Republic of Indonesia delegation during negotiations for Indonesia’s independence with the Dutch in 1949. It is estimated that the completion of that building as well as a consular pavilion will occur by the end of 2019.

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Secretary Pompeo and Susan Pompeo Travels to Kansas, then to Kuwait, Next to Israel and Lebanon

March 20, 2019 By in Mike Pompeo, Photo of the Day, Pompeo, Secretary of State, State Department, Trends Tags: , , , , , ,

 

Secretary Pompeo and his wife, Susan traveled to Kansas where he did the Keynote Address and Fireside Chat at the Road to GES Heartland Event. They’re now traveling to Kuwait, Israel, and Lebanon from March 19–23.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Mrs. Pompeo participate in a television interview with Lily Wu from KAKE TV in Wichita, Kansas on March 19, 2019. [State Department photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain]

U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Mrs. Susan Pompeo are greeted by U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence Silverman, Kuwaiti Ambassador to the U. S. Ambassador Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and Kuwaiti Assistant Foreign Minister for the America’s, Ambassador Reem Al-Khalid, upon arrival in Kuwait on March 19, 2019. [State Department photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain]

 

Student journalist to Pompeo: Why you were doing this when you’ve provided cover for a president who has made light of violence against the press

March 20, 2019 By in Media, Mike Pompeo, Pompeo, Secretary of State, State Department, Trends Tags: , , ,

Via The Bulletin:

Sarah Spoon, Emporia State University:  Mr. Secretary, I do think this is an important question and I was just wondering if you could explain to us why you’re reaching out specifically to student newspapers on college campuses. As Mr. Kuros (the office of press relations for the State Department) put it to me today, this is a historic move for the Secretary of State as this is not normal for the Secretary of State to reach out to college campuses, but I wanted to know why you were doing this when you’ve provided cover for a president who has made light of violence against the press, has mocked disabled reporters and has even offered to pay the legal fees of supporters who assault members of the media?

Pompeo: Yeah, President Trump and I both understand how the importance of press freedom and the importance for students like you to have the opportunity to say things. What we value is when you say things that are truthful and that you don’t engage in political rhetoric as a journalist that is not reflective of reality. What’s important is that we make sure that we have facts and data and that we report things, that reporters report things that are truthful and accurate and that they work hard to make sure they get those facts right or determined to do that. And, I couldn’t tell you, you suggested that it is unusual for Secretaries of State to engage with reporters at academic institutions across America. I think that’s unfortunate. I think that’s sad. I wish my predecessors had taken some of their time to do it. They were certainly all busy people, I certainly have a full agenda as well, but it’s an imperative that we get this right, that you all have every chance to hear from America’s senior leaders, to take your measure of them, to ask us difficult questions. We have responsibility to answer for our actions and to speak the truth to you as best we know and the best we can deliver and I hope I’ve done that with y’all today.

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Congress Demands Pompeo Turn Over Documents on Political Targeting of @StateDept Employees

March 19, 2019 By in Career Employees, Congress, Govt Documents, Mike Pompeo, Oversight, Political Appointees, Politics, Pompeo, Realities of the FS, Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State, Senators, SFRC, State Department Tags: , , , ,

 

On March 15, Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Senator Bob Menendez, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations “denounced the State Department’s attempts to obstruct investigations into reports of politically-motivated retaliation against career Department employees.”

In a letter to Secretary Pompeo, they demanded that “the Department comply with past Congressional requests for information on this matter, stretching back over the past year.”

“To date, despite three specific requests and multiple follow-up efforts by our offices, the Department has failed to respond to our requests for interviews or provide any responsive records. After nearly a year, it suggests the State Department is stonewalling a legitimate congressional request for information on matters that are squarely within our Committees’ oversight jurisdiction. We are therefore restating our demand for a response to our prior queries on this matter and are prepared to use appropriate tools at our disposal to prompt a substantive response.”

The congressional demand requires that the Department submit all documents requested by March 21 and facilitate Committee interviews with Department officials implicated in this matter by April 30.

Among the items requested:

(1) all documents and communications referring or relating to any reassignment or proposed reassignment that was considered or ordered since January 20, 2017, of career or civil service employees at the Department;

(2) all documents and communications referring or relating to any proposed or actual reassignment or removal of career or civil service employees at the Department since January 20, 2017, based on alleged personal political beliefs, prior service with previous Administrations, or work on prior Administrations’ foreign policy priorities, including any documents authored by, copying, involving, or referring to:

(a) Christine Ciccone;

(b) Makan Delrahim;

(c) Sean Doocey;

(d) Julia Haller;

(e) Brian Hook;

(f) Edward Lacey;

(g) Matthew Mowers; or

(h) Margaret Peterlin; and

(3) all documents and communications referring or relating to proposed or actual personnel actions since January 20, 2017, against Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, including the curtailment of her detail to the Policy Planning staff.

The congressional request also notes:

“To the extent that the Department may have been relying on a legal theory that our requests somehow lapsed at the end of the 115th Congress, we write today to dispense with that argument and hereby formally restate our prior requests.”

The congressional request asks for transcribed interviews with the following individuals.

A schedule of availability for the Committees to conduct transcribed interviews with each of the following individuals, with the first interview to be conducted no later than April 1, 2019, and with all interviews to be conducted no later than April 30, 2019:

(a) Christine Ciccone;

(b) Makan Delrahim;

(c) Sean Doocey;

(d) Julia Haller;

(e) Brian Hook;

(f) Edward Lacey;

(g) Matthew Mowers;

(h) Margaret Peterlin;

(i) Andrew Veprek;

(j) John Zadrozny; and

(k) Kevin Moley

This request has been overgrown with grass;  some of those they want to interview are no longer in Foggy Bottom. It looks like Congress sent their first request on March 15, 2018, two days after Tillerson was fired in a tweet. The full statement from Rep. Engel and Senator Menendez is available here. The letter to Secretary Pompeo is here.

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Mystery Illness: @StateDept Raising Doubt About 14 China Cases #TheThing

March 18, 2019 By in Career Employees, Diplomatic Attacks, EAP|East Asia, Federal Agencies, Foreign Service, Huh? News, MEDical, Mike Pompeo, Realities of the FS, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

 

We’ve blogged previously about the mystery illness that was reported to have afflicted USG employees in China (U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou – What’s Going On? ;  Is @StateDept Working to Minimize the Health Attacks in China? #Cuba #MissingARBs; Yo! The Thing. Still Going on in China?)

Last night, CBS/60Minutes did a segment on the health attacks in China. Back in July  2018, WaPo wrote about Mark Lenzi whose access to the building at post was reportedly restricted after he “began to speak up more forcefully about the treatment of his family.” Recap below: USCG Guangzhou Security Engineering Officer Mark Lenzi Disputes State Department Statement on Mystery Illness

On June 6, WaPo wrote about Mark Lenzi and his family who  started noticing noises in April 2017 at the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou, China. “A few months later, the headaches started — pain that lasted for days at a time. Lenzi and his wife experienced the same symptoms, which soon included chronic sleeplessness as well. Lenzi says he asked his superiors for help but they dismissed his concerns. Consulate doctors prescribed painkillers and Ambien, which did nothing to address the underlying causes of the problem. And then, last month, Lenzi was shocked to learn another neighbor, a fellow Foreign Service officer, had been evacuated from their building and flown back to the United States for a thorough medical assessment, which soon determined that the person in question was suffering from “mild traumatic brain injury.”  

They gave him painkillers and Ambien but medevaced the FSO next door?

The State Department reportedly issued a statement but said it is unaware of any other cases — a point “strongly disputed by Lenzi, who insists he had repeatedly informed both the embassy in Beijing and State Department headquarters in Washington of his family’s predicament.”  Lenzi, who has reportedly called for the resignation of the US Ambassador to Beijing  told WaPo that the State Department “restricted his access to the building where he normally worked after he began to speak up more forcefully about the treatment of his family, essentially neutralizing his capacity to continue his work at the consulate”.

We understand that Mark Lenzi is a specialist who was assigned as a Security Engineering Officer (SEO) in Guangzhou until he and his family were evacuated from post. Given the reported restriction to post access for speaking out about this incident, this is a case that bears watching.

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60Minutes notes that “for reasons that are unclear, the State Department is raising doubt about the other 14 China cases. Click here for the transcript of the State Department segment.

In addition to Mark Lenzi, also on camera were U.S. Commerce Department trade officer Catherine Werner,  trade officer Robyn Garfield and wife Britta who were posted in Shanghai, and former NSA employee Mark Lenzi who believed that the weapon used is a radio frequency energy, in the microwave range.

A clue that supports that theory was revealed by the National Security Agency in 2014. This NSA statement describes such a weapon as a “high-powered microwave system weapon that may have the ability to weaken, intimidate, or kill an enemy over time without leaving evidence.” The statement goes on to say “…this weapon is designed to bathe a target’s living quarters in microwaves.” The NSA disclosed this in a worker’s compensation case filed by former NSA employee Mike Beck.

Also:  “The State Department declined an interview, but in a statement to 60 Minutes it said, “We will continue to provide our colleagues the care they need, regardless of their diagnosis or the location of their medical evacuation.” A State Department official told us that the Cuba patients are victims of an attack. But State hasn’t made the same determination for the China patients. The department has asked the National Academies of Science to assist in the medical investigation.”

Related posts:

Secretary Mike Pompeo Swears-In New INR Assistant Secretary Ellen E. McCarthy

March 18, 2019 By in assistant secretaries, Functional Bureaus, Mike Pompeo, Political Appointees, State Department Tags: , ,

Assistant Secretary McCarthy Delivers Remarks at Her Swearing-in Ceremony Ellen E. McCarthy, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research delivers remarks at her swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on March 15, 2019. [State Department photo by Michael Gross/ Public Domain]

Secretary Mike Pompeo Swears-In New DGHR Carol Perez

March 18, 2019 By in Ambassadors, Foreign Service, FSOs, Mike Pompeo, State Department Tags: ,

U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo officiates the swearing-in ceremony for Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources Carol Perez at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on March 15, 2019. [State Department photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain]