This guy better get his resume polished up:
A senior U.S. State Department diplomat told Arab satellite network Al Jazeera that there is a strong possibility history will show the United States displayed “arrogance” and “stupidity” in its handling of the Iraq war.
Alberto Fernandez, director of the Office of Press and Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of Near East Affairs, made his comments on Saturday to the Qatar-based network.
“History will decide what role the United States played,” he told Al Jazeera in Arabic, based on CNN translations. “And God willing, we tried to do our best in Iraq.”
“But I think there is a big possibility … for extreme criticism and because undoubtedly there was arrogance and stupidity from the United States in Iraq,” the diplomat told Al Jazeera. . . .
“I can only assume his remarks must have been mistranslated. Those comments obviously don’t reflect our policy,” a senior Bush administration official said.
Fernandez told CNN that he was “not dissing U.S. policy.”
“I know what the policy is and what the red lines are, and nothing I said hasn’t been said before by senior officials.”
Poor guy. He mistook recent Administration softening of its denials that there is a problem with Iraq as a sign of an American glasnost. What equivalent of Siberia will he be sent to on his next diplomatic posting?
