No sooner did senior State Department official, Alberto Fernandez utter these commments:

“History will decide what role the U.S. played. 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.”

(click HERE or on pic to see video)

Fernandez has now retracted these comments.

Thank you kindly sir for giving this story “legs”.
Today Fernandez has told Al Jazeera:

“This [the comments where he calls the U.S. actions in Iraq “stupid and arrogant”] represents neither my views nor those of the State Department. I apologise,” Alberto Fernandez, US state department director of public diplomacy in the Near Eastern Affairs bureau, said on Sunday.

Fernandez said he realised after reading the interview transcript that he “seriously misspoke” in using the phrase, “there has been arrogance and stupidity” by the United States in Iraq.

Ahhhh….he “misspoke”.

Say. No. More.  That explains everything.

Kinda like when Mark Foley “mistyped” about giving a blowjob to a teenaged page.

Of course, this now completely contradicts what State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday:

– State Department Spokesman, Sean McCormack.

A state department spokesman, Sean McCormack, yesterday claimed Mr Fernandez had been mistranslated, and said he had disputed the description of his comments. Asked whether he thought Washington could be judged as arrogant, Mr McCormack – who was in Moscow with Condoleezza Rice – snapped “No”. However, a transcript by the Associated Press confirmed the accuracy of Mr Fernandez’s reported quotes.

“Misspoke” / “Mistranslated“

What’s the diff?

Is it time for a “retraction” from The State Department?