So much for the benefits of getting Arabic-speaking US officials to speak directly to regional news media:
"Official Sorry for 'Stupidity' Comment" - AP (Washington), 22 October 2006
WASHINGTON - A senior U.S. diplomat apologized Sunday night for saying U.S. policy in Iraq displayed "arrogance" and "stupidity."
A day after his remarks in an interview were broadcast by the pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera, Alberto Fernandez issued a written apology through the State Department press office.
"Upon reading the transcript of my appearance on Al-Jazeera, I realized that I seriously misspoke by using the phrase 'there has been arrogance and stupidity' by the U.S. in Iraq," said Fernandez, director of public diplomacy in State's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
"This represents neither my views nor those of the State Department," Fernandez added. "I apologize."...
For background, see:
"Diplomat Admits 'U.S. Arrogance' in Iraq," by Claudia Parsons - Reuters (Baghdad), 22 October 2006
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States has shown "arrogance" and "stupidity" in Iraq, a senior U.S. diplomat said in an interview aired on Sunday, after President Bush said he was flexible on tactics, if not strategy....
"We tried to do our best (in Iraq) but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq," U.S. State Department official Alberto Fernandez told Al Jazeera television, according to a Reuters reporter who heard the interview, which was in Arabic.
The State Department said that the English translation of the comments posted on Al Jazeera's English language Web site had misquoted Fernandez, its director of public diplomacy in the bureau of Near Eastern affairs.
"What he (Fernandez) says is that it is not an accurate quote," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. Asked whether he thought the United States would be judged as being arrogant, McCormack said "No."
He said later: "Such statements if true would not be a reflection of U.S. policy or the views of the administration."...
"Diplomat Condemns 'U.S. Arrogance" - Al Jazeera TV website (Aljazeera.net), 22 October 2006; attributed to 'Aljazeera and [news] agencies').
A senior American diplomat has told Aljazeera that the United States has shown 'arrogance' and 'stupidity' in Iraq.
"We tried to do our best [in Iraq], but I think there is much room for criticism, because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq," said Alberto Fernandez, director of public diplomacy in the bureau of Near Eastern affairs at the US state department, in an interview on the Arabic channel aired on Saturday.
Fernandez also declared that the US was ready to talk with any Iraqi group - except al-Qaeda in Iraq - to end the growing sectarian violence and the continued fighting.
"We are open to dialogue because we all know that, at the end of the day, the hell and the killings in Iraq are linked to an effective Iraqi national reconciliation," he said, speaking in Arabic from Washington.
"The Iraqi government is convinced of this," he said.
A US state department spokesman on Saturday said that Fernandez alleged he had not been quoted accurately in the interview.
Sean McCormack said: "What he [Fernandez] says is that it is not an accurate quote."
However, Aljazeera said Fernandez' interview had been rechecked and confirmed the comments were accurate and the words "arrogance" and "stupidity" were used....
"US 'Arrogant and Stupid' in Iraq" - BBC News, 22 October 2006
A senior US state department official has said that the US has shown "arrogance and stupidity" in Iraq.
Alberto Fernandez made the remarks during an interview with Arabic television station al-Jazeera.
The state department says Mr Fernandez was quoted incorrectly - but BBC Arabic language experts say Mr Fernandez did indeed use the words.
It comes after President George W Bush discussed changing tactics with top US commanders to try to combat the unrest.
Mr Fernandez, an Arabic speaker who is director of public diplomacy in the state department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, told Qatar-based al-Jazeera that the world was "witnessing failure in Iraq".
"That's not the failure of the United States alone, but it is a disaster for the region," he said.
"I think there is great room for strong criticism, because without doubt, there was arrogance and stupidity by the United States in Iraq."...
[S]tate department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "What he [Alberto Fernandez] says is that it is not an accurate quote."
Mr McCormack also denied that the US had been guilty of arrogance or stupidity saying that history would be the judge of US actions in Iraq.
The BBC Monitoring Service has confirmed that Mr Fernandez did use the words "arrogance and stupidity" in his interview....
"Transcript of Remarks by a Top US Diplomat on America's Role in Iraq" - AP (no dateline), 22 October 2006, as carried on the International Herald Tribune website
In an interview broadcast on Al-Jazeera, the pan-Arab satellite channel, a senior U.S. diplomat said the United States had shown "arrogance" and "stupidity" in Iraq.
Alberto Fernandez, director of public diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the U.S. State Department, also said the United States was ready to talk with any Iraqi group — excluding al-Qaida in Iraq — to reach national reconciliation in the country, wracked by widening sectarian strife as well as an enduring insurgency.
The interview was taped in Washington on Friday and broadcast by Al-Jazeera Saturday night.
His remarks were in fluent Arabic and translated into English by The Associated Press. In the interview Fernandez said: "We tried to do our best but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq."
Subsequently, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, in Moscow with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said that Fernandez disputed the description of his comments....
Here is a transcript of the portion of the Al-Jazeera interview in which Fernandez made the remarks about arrogance and stupidity, among other issues. The translation is by AP in Baghdad.
[Begin transcript provided by AP -- I've left out the first and last Q&A; click through to the original article to read the entire interview]
....Al-Jazeera: There is, Mr. Fernandez, now talk as was mentioned in more than one media outlet, especially in the Los Angeles Times, that a report is being prepared by the former Secretary of State James Baker. You know very well, and let us inform our viewers that the American Congress set up the committee of (inaudible) persons to discuss or present a full report and make recommendations on Iraq. We understood from what has been published that Mr. James Baker will recommend to the American administration major changes in American policies in Iraq. What do u have (interrupted)... .
Fernandez: We expect that report after the congressional elections in the United States of America, maybe in a month or two at the latest. Without a doubt that is a special committee from former experts in American administrations, not just Republican administrations, who thoroughly studied the subject with fresh eyes. Without a doubt we will see interesting recommendations in that report which may be acceptable to the administration or may possibly be rejected by the administration. But what is important, we believe, is the exercise of flexibility and self- criticism and take responsibility for correcting mistakes and policies if those policies have failed or are unable to present the Iraqi people with what they want most: Security first, second and third, and then (solutions to) a long list of problems, including economic and political one.
Al-Jazeera: I, of course, appreciate your usual candor Mr. Fernandez, especially what you just said. Does that mean, Mr. Ferndandez, in all honesty, that those who are labeled as radicals or hard-liners inside the American administration are responsible for the mistakes in Iraq? There is, in all honesty, I won't say contradictions, but a difference of policies between the State Department and the Defense Department in this respect (interrupted)... .
Fernandez: This, of course, is an important and interesting question. It is difficult for any politician in whatever administration, not just this administration, to admit mistakes, because people in the East as well as the West don't like to admit they have made mistakes or are wrong. This is the mentality of the people, the mentality of power, authority, autocratic thinking. This is reality. I think we are somewhat fortunate in America because we are a democracy and, within weeks, in about two or three weeks, we will witness the start of internal settling of scores in the United States over this question. The American people will decide the policies of the administration and the policies of representatives in the American Congress on the issue of Iraq.
Traditionally, congressional elections are linked to internal issues. In these elections, the issue of Iraq is important, maybe the most important in some congressional races in the United States. Of course, some historians, history will judge American history in Iraq. We tried to do our best but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq."...
The one report I've seen so far with a quote from Fernandez about the interview is from CNN:
"Iraqi Police Recruits Killed, Kidnapped in Ambush" (look for item under the subheadline, "Diplomat: US Arrogant, Stupid in Iraq" ), reported by - CNN (Baghdad), 22 October 2006. The link in the story will (should) take you to video from the CNN website showing first an ad and then a snippet of the interview (in Arabic, with a voiceover translation in English).
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. (Watch Fernandez on Al-Jazeera -- :19)
"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," the diplomat told CNN....
CNN also has this item:
"US Official: History May Show US 'Stupidity' on Iraq" - CNN (Washington), 21 October 2006
...Fernandez told CNN he was replying to a question [from the Al Jazeera journalist] about how people will assess the United States in the future, and he said he thought that was how the country would be judged.
He was defending U.S. policy in a region where everyone dislikes the United States, he said, and was doing so in an aggressive way that was faithful to U.S. policy and trying to put it in the best light.
He was "not dissing U.S. policy," he said.
"I know what the policy is and what the red lines are, and nothing I said hasn't been said before by senior officials," Fernandez told CNN. "Nothing I said during this interview broke new ground."
He referred to comments made by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in March as an example.
Rice, during a visit to Blackburn, England, acknowledged to journalists that mistakes had been made in the war.
"I am quite certain there are going to be dissertations written about the mistakes of the Bush administration," she said.
"I know we've made tactical errors, thousands of them, I'm sure," Rice said. "But when you look back in history, what will be judged" is whether the "right strategic decision" was made.
Ousting Saddam Hussein was the correct thing to do, because he was a threat to the international community, she added.
Added 23 October:
"State Dept. Official Apologizes for Criticism of Iraq Policy," by Neela Banerjee - the New York Times, 23 October 2006 (registration required)
WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 — A senior State Department official apologized Sunday night for saying that the United States had acted with “arrogance” and “stupidity” in its campaign in Iraq.
The apology from Alberto Fernandez, director of the office of press and public diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs in Washington, involved a comment that he had made during an interview conducted in Arabic and broadcast Saturday on Al Jazeera, the Arab television network....
In a statement released Sunday night by the State Department, Mr. Fernandez said:
“Upon reading the transcript of my appearance on Al Jazeera, I realized that I seriously misspoke by using the phrase ‘There has been arrogance and stupidity by the U.S. in Iraq.’ This represents neither my views, or those of the State Department. I apologize.”
Mr. Fernandez has a reputation for outspokenness that predates his comments to Al Jazeera. Though he is responsible for getting top State Department officials into the Arab news media, he has given dozens of interviews himself, he told Newsweek in a profile published in August. His popularity in the Arab news media has been bolstered by his command of Arabic and his willingness to speak passionately about issues.
Mr. Fernandez’s interview on Al Jazeera came at the end of a week when the American military command conceded that it had failed to quell violence in Baghdad, despite a two-month offensive, and fighting between and within religious sects rocked several Iraqi cities. His opinions may open him to criticism from supporters of the Bush administration’s policies in Iraq. But some Iraqi lawmakers welcomed the remarks.
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker, said more American officials should be willing to be self-critical about missteps in Iraq. “I have been expecting American officials, someday, last year, this year, to say something about this, that this policy has not worked,” Mr. Othman said. “It has been a failure. They should admit it before it is too late.”
Added 24 October:
"Senior US Diplomat's Candor Gets Play in the Middle East, Ire at Home," by Dan Murphy (in Cairo) - the Christian Science Monitor, 24 October 2006
CAIRO – When senior State Department official Alberto Fernandez said in an interview on Al Jazeera Saturday that US policies in Iraq have been marked by "arrogance" and "stupidity," he was expressing a sentiment widely held in the Arab world.
To many Arabs, it was a stunning moment of candor. It led front pages of newspapers across the region. Mr. Fernandez - whose fluent Arabic and dozens of regional television appearances have made him the voice of American policy to millions in the Middle East - struck the sort of tone that public policy experts say the US needs if it is to regain some of its credibility in Arab eyes.
The only problem was, his comments were immediately disavowed by the Bush Administration. Now the future of Fernandez - one of America's most potent public diplomacy weapons in the region - is clouded, and the Arab view of an America that admits to no mistakes has become more entrenched.
Fernandez's primary job is to book American officials on Arab programs, but with most officials reluctant to appear on Arab-language television, particularly on Al Jazeera, which many US officials view with barely disguised loathing, he's been mostly booking himself, doing at least 100 interviews this year.
In a laudatory piece on his efforts in Newsweek this August, Fernandez poked fun at himself. "I'm Cuban,'' he told the magazine, referring to his heritage. "We can't close our big mouths."...
Marc Lynch, a Middle East expert and political science professor at Williams College whose latest book, "Voices of the New Arab Public," examines the role Al Jazeera and other media play in shaping Arab views, says it appears that Fernandez is being slapped down by the administration for his comments. He worries that could end up seriously undermining American outreach efforts in the region.
"If you can say: 'Yeah, the security situation in Iraq isn't very good and we've made a lot of mistakes, but now we have to get everyone on board to find solutions,' you're going to be much more effective," says Lynch. "The real impact to worry about here is whether future public diplomacy people take away the message that if they display the slightest amount of honesty, they're doomed."
By now, the view that the US has made major mistakes in Iraq is hardly news. It's something that's been acknowledged in print by former senior officials of the US administration there, and retired military generals who served there.
Lost in the furor over Fernandez's remarks - from right-wing blogs calling for his head to those on the left using it as fodder to claim that US policy in Iraq has been a disaster - has been the meat of his comments, which were designed to encourage constructive engagement in the region....
Added 5 November 2006:
"Public Diplomacy," by Anna Johnson - AP (Beirut, Lebanon), 29 October 2006
Until the controversy, Fernandez's chatty, freewheeling style gave him an audience far bigger than official spokesmen or Cabinet members, whose remarks required voice-over translations, could command.
Many observers said Fernandez's style of informal debate lent itself to controversy but also spoke to young, disenchanted Arabs angry over the Iraq war and U.S. response to last summer's Israel-Hezbollah war.
"I think he's quite popular with viewers ... under the present condition in relations between the U.S. and the Arab world. To have an American who appears on their screens and talks to them in their language, it's quite a phenomenon," said Abderrahim Foukara, Al-Jazeera's Washington bureau chief.
Even before the latest furor, Fernandez, the State Department's director of public diplomacy for Near Eastern Affairs, had run afoul of conservatives for his on-the-air comments.
In February, former U.S. federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy accused Fernandez in a National Review Online article of "gushing" over the hard-line Egyptian cleric Sheik Youssef al-Qaradawi during comments last year on Islamonline.net.
Fernandez referred to the cleric as a respected religious leader.
Danielle Pletka of the conservative American Enterprise Institute said Fernandez's comments about Iraq were "wholly inappropriate" and point to a larger discord between the State Department and the White House on Mideast policy.
But supporters say Fernandez is a breath of fresh air not only because he speaks Arabic but also because he appears comfortable talking to Arabs about unpopular U.S. policies.
Lawrence Pintak, director of the Adham Center for Electronic Journalism at the American University in Cairo, said Fernandez "is willing to joke and argue with people. He doesn't spout a couple of sound bites and shut down. He has earned respect here."...