"Disappointing," "vague" and "unconvincing." Those were some of the words used by Egyptian analysts and activists to describe US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's Jan. 10 speech at the American University in Cairo. Promoted earlier as a speech that would "outline America's Middle East policy," Pompeo's address was "void of substance," the analysts concurred, arguing that it left the audience without a clear understanding of the US vision for the troubled region.

Among the key messages in Pompeo's address — titled "A Force for Good: America's Reinvigorated Role in the Middle East" — was that "Iran's expansionist and tyrannical ambitions must be thwarted" and that the United States was "committed to continuing the fight against radical Islam and to dismantling IS [the Islamic State]."

"America will not retreat until the terror fight is over," he pledged.

But the top US diplomat also lambasted former US President Barack Obama (without mentioning his name), blaming the previous administration for "underestimating the tenacity and viciousness of radical Islam" and for "maintaining silence when the people of Iran rose up against the mullahs in Tehran."