Tillerson’s dismissal and the hidden stitch

Written by Nasser Kandil,

The circulated analyses about the reason of the dismissal of the US Secretary of State Rix Tillerson which he received officially via a tweet by his president are distributed between a theory that its content is that the dismissal was  a response to Emirati demand, that expresses a Saudi-Emirati desire, because Tillerson stands with Qatar in the Gulf crisis, and a theory sees that the dismissal is a prelude to further escalation against Russia and Iran whether in Syria or towards the Iranian nuclear program or in the US-Russian relationships and the controversial files which reflect the tension on more than an aspect, especially because Tillerson’s dismissal brought the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Mike Pompeo who is known with his stubbornness in the US-Russian relationships and the Iranian nuclear file.

In the US press and the US TV networks there are two different interpretations that have different analyses, the first one asserts that Trump was not in agreement with Tillerson, and the disagreement has grown between them due to the independent performance of Trump, and his establishment of a private island outside the range of the domination of the Secretary of State in the US State Department that is represented by the US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley whose her name was circulated after the end of Tillerson’s term, knowing that the dismissal would take place sooner or later. But Tillerson imposed its acceleration through a statement in which he supported the British accusations of Russia of the assassination of the Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in London at a time when Trump wanted a neutral discreet position because he is preoccupied in calming the file of the Russian interference in the US elections, and does not want to get involved in media war with Moscow on intelligence accusations. The second interpretations link the choosing of Pompeo with his accordance with Trump, and expect that Herbert McMaster the National Security Advisor may be dismissed as Tillerson for the same reason; the disharmony with Trump’s changing mood. While Gina Haspel who successes Pompeo in directing the Central Intelligence Agency may become Trump’s candidate to the position of the National Security Advisor. These analyses see that the political reason which made such of this change is the progress in the negotiation with North Korea and the role of each of the North Korean intelligence, the Chinese intelligence, and the Russian intelligence in these long negotiations which will be run by the US State Department after the anticipated summit between Trump and the North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un. Therefore, such of this sensitive file according to the US President needs a Secretary of State with a security background, who is closer to the president and able to have an understanding with him and agreement with his mood.

It was clear that Tillerson issued a statement that he is in solidarity with London in accusing Moscow and escalating against it, and that the negotiation with North Korea is the main concern of the White House until the date of the summit with Jong Un. The results of the investigations of the intelligence committee in the Congress denied the accusation of Russia in manipulating with the US Presidential elections, so they reassured Trump because the situation does not tolerate a new intelligence problem as what needed by London. While those who celebrate the departure of Tillerson as an achievement whether they are advocates of resolving the conflict with Qatar in the Gulf or advocates of the war in Syria, are forgetting the speech of Trump’s himself to the Prince of Qatar a few weeks ago about his support of the Qatari endeavor to reunite the Gulf Cooperation Council, and forgetting that Tillerson has been surprised upon targeting Al Shuairat airbase but he justified the strike. What prevents Trump for repeating the same thing is not the presence of Tillerson and what facilitates the task is not Pompeo but what has been said one day by the former Chief of Staff Martin Dempsey that the military involvement in Syria requires a prior decision to mobilize half a million soldiers and hundreds of aircraft, knowing that one trillion dollars has been allocated per year for twenty years without expecting a decisive victory.

North Korea which forms the main issue of Trump and his promised achievement by ending its military nuclear program alone interprets the coming of Pompeo who is responsible of the CIA and before that the intelligence committee in the Congress and who has a personal friendly relationship with each of the National Security Advisor in South Korea Chung Yue-Yong and the Director  of the National Intelligence Service  Suh Hoon, the responsible for the negotiation with the north Korea and with the Chinese and Russian intelligence about the Korean nuclear file.

Translated by Lina Shehadeh,