mr fernandez, you and i AND THE WHOLE world know

you did NOT misspeak

what you said IS the truth. did you get your wrist slapped for saying those words? 83 american troops DEAD in iraq this month. 83. those are our sons and daughters and husbands and wives and our friends and neighbors. we're not even allowed to see those 83 come home, in a box, but home

the 83 doesn't even come near the number of our troops who were injured and maimed this month. i don't even have an idea how many THAT was

BRING THEM HOME NOW

Diplomat 'mispoke' on U.S. arrogance in Iraq

By Claudia Parsons
BAGHDAD, Oct 22 (Reuters) - A senior U.S. diplomat who said the United States has shown "arrogance" and "stupidity" in Iraq said he "seriously misspoke" in an interview aired on Sunday after U.S. President George W. Bush said he was flexible on tactics, if not strategy.
In an attack that highlights the problems Washington faces in recruiting and training Iraqi security forces, 13 police recruits were killed and 25 wounded in an ambush on a convoy of buses near the town of Baquba on Sunday.
U.S. military deaths in Iraq in October have reached 83, making it the most deadly month for Americans this year and adding to pressure on Bush before Congressional elections next month in which Republicans could lose majorities in both houses.
"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.
Fernandez, the State Department's director of public diplomacy in the bureau of Near Eastern affairs, said that he had misspoken during the interview.
"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 nor those of the State Department. I apologize," Fernandez said in a statement.
The State Department had said that the English translation of the comments posted on Al Jazeera's English-language Web site had misquoted Fernandez.
As violence rages, the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has been meeting Shi'ite clerics this week to enlist their support in calming militia infighting in southern Iraq as well as sectarian strife between Shi'ites and Sunnis.
Disarming militias such as the Mehdi Army, loyal to powerful young cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, is seen as crucial by the United States but has proved difficult for Maliki who relies on the support of the political groups linked to the militias.........

Tech Tags: alberto+fernandez us+troops iraq al-jazeera