CAIRO — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laid out a new manifesto for American action in the Middle East on Thursday, telling a university audience here that “the age of self-inflicted American shame is over” and that the United States would take a far more activist role in the region, despite fears that President Trump’s decision to pull troops out of Syria marks a new phase of withdrawal. Mr. Pompeo delivered a scathing — and quite personal — rejection of President Barack Obama’s approach to the Middle East, excoriating Mr. Obama for “fundamental misunderstandings” about the region that “underestimated the tenacity and viciousness of radical Islamism.”And he described a policy of containment of Iran’s power, pressing for allies in the region to isolate the country. He vowed to “expel every last Iranian boot” from Syria, but offered no plan to achieve that goal at a moment that the small American force of 2,000 troops is scheduled to get out. The seeming contradiction between Mr. Trump’s impulsive announcement that United States forces would leave Syria and Mr. Pompeo’s declaration that “when America retreats, chaos follows” confounded many in the region. They say they cannot reconcile the declaration with the president’s Dec. 19 tweet that his only reason for remaining in Syria was the defeat of the Islamic State, a job he said had been completed.

Source: New York Times January 10, 2019 15:38 UTC