Behind Closed Doors

The Bipartisan Cold War Rages On

By Cale Holmes

What do Senators Jim Risch and Cory Booker have in common? They both don’t want you to know where they stand on confirming pivot to Asia architect Kurt Campbell’s nomination for Deputy Secretary of State.

I tried to get into S-116 to share with the public what kinds of questions and answers were spoken in Biden nominee Kurt Campbell’s latest hearing. In the lobby of the US Senate, I was told the meeting was not open to the public despite members of the public being present outside S-116.

Aides were letting some people in but keeping dozens out. These gatekeepers repeatedly asked me who I was with, curtly told me to move back, and later demanded I leave the premises if I couldn’t produce a press pass. The authoritarian nomination hearings represent just how far the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is willing to go when it comes to hiding from the people. What’s with the secrecy?

Could it be that Kurt Campbell represents oil interests by way of the Center for a New American Security or CNAS (which he co-founded)? Exxon Mobil is a major donor to CNAS. When he ran for president, Biden promised he’d focus on fighting climate change. He’s been in office for three years. During his first two, he approved more oil and gas drilling permits than his predecessor. Biden is also big on carbon capture technology — seen by some scientists as unfeasible distraction, but favored by companies like Exxon Mobil for the purpose of green-washing.

Could it be that Campbell is against peace with Iran, even as the US edges closer into all-out war in Southwest Asia? During his last hearing in December, Campbell publicly said he will not rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal which the US unilaterally withdrew from under the Trump administration. This is yet another broken Biden promise.

Or could it be that Campbell doesn’t believe in putting conditions on sending weapons to Israel? The genocidal war on Palestine has killed more than 26,000. But Palestinian lives apparently don’t matter to Biden’s war cabinet. They also don’t matter to Campbell.

Moreover, Campbell’s appointment would be defined by a more militaristic — not a diplomatic — approach to China. He’s proud of promoting AUKUS, the anti-China military pact between Britain, the US, and Australia to patrol the Pacific Ocean with nuclear submarines. He’s proud to back the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or QUAD, which Beijing accuses of encirclement.

We must not stop talking about Palestine. We must not stop talking about the climate crisis. And we must not stop talking about the threat Kurt Campbell poses to China.