Pompeo aims to lift State Department morale with 'ethos' statement

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

POLITICS APRIL 25, 2019 / 10:04 PM / UPDATED 31 MINUTES AGO

Pompeo aims to lift State Department morale with 'ethos' statement

Arshad Mohammed, Jonathan Landay
5 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hopes to boost morale at the State Department with an “ethos” statement that some former officials viewed with skepticism, partly because an early draft had language they saw as an admonition not to leak to the media.

Two former officials knowledgeable about the effort said the language rankled them because it implied diplomats could not be trusted and they questioned the need for an “ethos” statement laying out the agency’s characteristic attitudes and beliefs.

The two former officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the initiative was driven by Ulrich Brechbuhl, the State Department counselor who is a close aide to Pompeo and was his classmate at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

A third former official knowledgeable about the effort said the language alluding to leaks ultimately had been dropped and that the statement itself sought to burnish the esprit de corps at the department.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-diplomats-morale/pompeo-aims-to-lift-state-department-morale-with-ethos-statement-idUSKCN1S205O

[C_U_L8R]

1. Ethos Schmethos

Pompeo and Trump need some ethics

[htuttle]

2. Morale problems? Everyone gets an inspirational coffee mug!

[2naSalit]

3. The best thing he could do

to boost morale would be for him to resign, pack up and go home.

[soryang]

4. The problem is a perceived lack of diplomacy

Threats and coercive measures up to and including war are the style of this administration. They don't negotiate, they make demands.

Is there anyone who isn't threatened with sanctions?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/113324123