Pompeo says State Dept to 'honour' promise to conduct transition
Nov 29, 2020
Washington [US], November 29 : US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the Department of State will 'honour' the outgoing President Donald Trump administration's "promise" to begin the transition of power with the incumbent Biden administration.
This comes after the Secretary of State said that there would be a peaceful transfer of power "to a second Trump administration".
"Those things that are required that the President has directed us to do in compliance with the decision that the GSA made yesterday, we'll do all of those things," Pompeo said in an interview to Fox News on Thursday.
He added, "It's a legal requirement, and we'll always honor that promise."
The top US diplomat later alluded to the Trump administration's willingness to deal with terrorists and perceived threats by assassination according to CNN, added that it was important not to conflate security with the number of soldiers on the ground in any one place and that the US keeps an eye on terrorist threats beyond Afghanistan's borders as well.
"The threat from terrorism around the world - from Islamic extremism, Islamic terrorism - is real. It doesn't just emanate from Afghanistan," he said.
While referring to the senior Iranian military leader the US assassinated in January this year and an al Qaeda leader killed by a US airstrike in 2019, the US Secretary of State said, "We have the force posture right today. We're going to keep it right. We'll get our troops home when we can, and we'll do the things we need to do. If Qasem Soleimani is a problem, we'll go crush them. If Hamza bin Ladin presents a risk, we'll take him out," he said.
When asked about whether President Donald Trump would order a complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan before his term ends on January 20, Pompeo said that the number is the mission set.
"Well, the President will obviously make the decision on that. The President to date has said that we're going to go from where we are today, something just over 4,000, to around 2,500," he said.
