State Department Official Says Things He Does Not Believe to Be True

Alberto Fernandez, director of the office of press and public diplomacy in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, says he "seriously misspoke" when, during an interview in Arabic with Al Jazeera, he said, "There has been arrogance and stupidity by the U.S. in Iraq." Fernandez insists "this represents neither my views [nor] those of the State Department." A "senior administration official," by contrast, attributed the burst of candor to a mistranslation. Or maybe Fernandez was drunk.