The chaotic maelstrom that is the Trump administration continues to churn, ejecting high-level officials and sucking in new ones at a turnover rate unprecedented in modern times. Now that the president has removed Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State he is trying to slot his CIA Director Mike Pompeo into the role.
Pompeo — as obsequious a Trump lackey as one is likely to find — is still having a bit of a rocky confirmation process, with Democrats adamantly opposed and even some Republicans voicing concerns about the appointment.
Many see Pompeo’s coziness with Trump as a black mark and believe that a vote for him would be a tacit vote of approval for Trump’s broader, disastrous agenda. Pompeo is a devoted conservative partisan, with all of the regressive baggage that comes with it.
His reputation is unlikely to improve any time, especially given today’s revelation that his military service was not quite what it’s been presented as. Splinter News reports that the CIA has confirmed to them that — contrary to Pompeo’s Wikipedia page and statements from Republican Congresspeople — Pompeo did not serve in the Gulf War. While he was in the U.S. Army from 1986 to 1991, he was not deployed to the Gulf War theater.
Ned Price, a former CIA officer during the Obama administration pointed out the shocking discrepancy via Twitter.
It seems apparent from reliable sources that Mike Pompeo did NOT serve in the first Gulf War, but nearly half of his public bios–including his Wikipedia page–and contemporary write-ups claim he did. Is this something he's been content to leave uncorrected?
A quick sample:
— Ned Price (@nedprice) April 20, 2018
His Wikipedia page claims he served with the 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry in the 4th Infantry Division in the Gulf War. But other sources suggest only the 1st and 4th Squadrons served in that conflict. pic.twitter.com/HSoI1Fy8Fy
— Ned Price (@nedprice) April 20, 2018
Nevertheless, many contemporary account take it as a given that he fought in the Gulf War. Take this @WSJ piece for example: https://t.co/fGf4bY44Ey pic.twitter.com/BY9UvlVddl
— Ned Price (@nedprice) April 20, 2018
Or this @NewYorker write-up:https://t.co/m3PRVcZAJS pic.twitter.com/zbUXFNQXH4
— Ned Price (@nedprice) April 20, 2018
And there's this @latimes piece: https://t.co/AnvavY36UJ pic.twitter.com/kAU1wvZDDX
— Ned Price (@nedprice) April 20, 2018
There are many more where that came from. This could all stem from sloppiness between having served "during" the Gulf War vs. "in" the Gulf War, but–if this is to be our Secretary of State–we need a clear understanding of his background and record.
— Ned Price (@nedprice) April 20, 2018
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) even included Pompeo’s imagined Persian Gulf deployment in a letter he and several allies penned in support of his Secretary of State nomination.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) aped the story of Pompeo’s fake service during the confirmation hearings for his appointment as CIA Director.
It’s still unclear how exactly this fake story was first propagated, but Pompeo must be held accountable for the fact that he has failed to correct the record even after hearing this lie repeated over and over again. Presumably, he realizes that letting people claim he served in the Gulf War pads his resume in a way that will make it easier for him to advance his career.
It’s a grave disservice to those servicemen and woman who actually deployed during Operation Desert Storm. He should be ashamed, and he deserves the nation an explanation. Even if he wasn’t an Islamaphobic warmonger who peddled absurd Benghazi conspiracy theories, his failure to honestly state his service record alone makes him unfit to be Secretary of State.
