Diplomat Says He 'Misspoke' On Iraq
A senior U.S. diplomat has apologized 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 Sunday 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."
U.S. officials had sought to play down Fernandez' assessment of the security situation in Iraq.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Friday that Fernandez said after the broadcast he didn't think reports of his comments were an "accurate reflection of what he said." Asked whether the Bush administration believed that history will show a record of arrogance or stupidity in Iraq, McCormack replied, "No."
Fernandez spoke in fluent Arabic in the interview, which Al-Jazeera said was taped in Washington on Friday.
Fernandez also said Washington was ready to talk with any Iraqi group, except al Qaeda in Iraq, to facilitate national reconciliation.
His initial statements came at the end of a week during which the White House came under heavy bipartisan, pre-election pressure for a significant re-examination of the president's war plan.
President Bush reviewed Iraq strategy with top war commanders and national security advisers on Friday and Saturday, but indicated little inclination for major changes to an increasingly divisive policy.
"Our goal in Iraq is clear and unchanging: Our goal is victory," Bush said in his weekly radio address Saturday. "What is changing are the tactics we use to achieve that goal."
However, a new report suggests that the White House is drafting a timetable that calls for the Iraqi government to assume more responsibility for security in the war-torn country.
The report in Sunday's New York Times said the head of the U.S.-led Multinational Forces in Iraq and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq were working on a plan that probably would — for the first time — outline milestones for disarming sectarian militias and meeting other political and economic goals.
The blueprint, to be presented to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki by the end of this year, would not threaten Iraq with a withdrawal of U.S. troops, according to the report.