Pompeo blasts Obama\'s Middle East policies in Cairo

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday accused Barack Obama of sowing chaos by abandoning the Middle East to Islamist militants and Iranian influence in a blistering critique of the former president's policies even as Pompeo's boss, President Donald Trump, moves to pull American troops out of Syria.

In a speech at the American University in Cairo, Pompeo dispensed with a U.S. diplomatic tradition of avoiding public airing abroad of domestic disputes by blasting Obama at the site of a landmark 2009 speech by Trump's predecessor aimed at improving relations with the Islamic world.

Pompeo presented America as "a force for good in the Middle East" and suggested Obama saw the United States as "a force for what ails the Middle East." The address by the chief American diplomat drew criticism from former U.S. officials and analysts who accused him of misreading history and camouflaging Trump's own desire to reduce U.S. commitments in the region.

Among other things, Pompeo accused Obama of underestimating "the tenacity and viciousness of radical Islamism," of failing to adequately support the 2009 "Green Movement" mass protests against a disputed election in Iran, and faulted him for not bombing Syria in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons by government forces in its civil war.

"What did we learn from all of this?

We learned that when America retreats, chaos often follows.

When we neglect our friends, resentment builds.

And when we partner with our enemies, they advance," Pompeo said.

Pompeo did not mention Obama by name but called him "another American" who had also given a speech in the capital of the Arab world's most-populous nation.

Pompeo is touring the region to try to explain U.S. strategy after Trump's surprise announcement last month of an abrupt withdrawal of all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, which rattled allies and shocked top U.S. officials, prompting U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to resign.

It is highly unusual for an American secretary of state to deliver a speech in a foreign capital directly attacking a former U.S. president.

Trump has reversed Obama's policies on international issues such as the Iran nuclear deal, trade agreements and the Paris climate change accord as well as a host of domestic policies.