Update On the Unbelievable

Yesterday, we posted something we found hard to believe. Now we know why we were skeptical.

U.S. arrogant, stupid in Iraq: American diplomat
Last Updated: Saturday, October 21, 2006 | 10:59 PM ET
CBC News

A senior U.S. diplomat has criticized his country's role in Iraq as President George W. Bush said the United States is still expecting to win the war, but is changing its tactics.

"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," Alberto Fernandez, an Arabic-speaking diplomat in the State Department's bureau of Near Eastern affairs, said on Al-Jazeera television on Saturday.

An administration official wondered whether the translation was accurate, the Associated Press reported. The unidentified official said Fernandez was not repeating the administration position.

Earlier Saturday, Bush met with Pentagon generals to discuss the situation in Iraq, which is perceived to be getting worse — three marines and at least 18 civilians were killed Saturday — and has become an issue in the U.S. midterm elections, set for Nov. 7.

More recent reports suggest that the White House is not very happy with Mr. Fernandez and make adamantly clear that 'stupid' and 'arrogant' are not in their vocabulary, at least not when characterizing themselves and their foreign policy in Iraq. Read the complete CBC article here.