The State Department, and especially Karen Hughes, must back Alberto Fernandez to the hilt in this StupidStorm. If he’s fired, or transfered to Mongolia, the United States unilaterally disarms in the ‘war of ideas’ as currently waged in the Arab media. While we do have ‘rapid reaction’ units coming online in Dubai and London, and CENTCOM has its own media outreach team, the fact is that Fernandez has been single-handedly carrying the American flag on the Arab broadcast media for years. America simply can not afford to lose him over a silly partisan media frenzy. And if Fernandez is punished, it’s safe to guess that nobody will be foolish enough to step up and take his place and do what he did. And that will be a major loss for America in a place where it can ill-afford any more losses at all.
Another point is that sympathy for the US in the region, which is deservedly low after the Lebanon war fiasco, is bound to stay low unless American officials begin to admit that they have made mistakes in the region. President Bush did so a few days ago with regards to Iraq — at last. Why can’t a State Dept spokesman admit that mistakes were made too? One other point is that, among my American friends, I know a lot of people who speak at least some Arabic and were at one point interested in a government career. Most of them declined to pursue a foreign service career (or, despite lucrative offers, go work in Iraq even when it was relatively safe) because of the administration’s policies and arrogance. They have so few people with skills because those tend to know more about the region and refuse, for moral reasons, to work with this administration (and under the likes of Elliott Abrams).
The first step to correcting the Bushies’ disastrous Middle East policy would be to admit they are wrong (as the president vaguely, reluctantly but partly has) and begin with a strong change of direction, notably in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (this is what the Egyptians have been asking for a long time now, by the way). Part of that change of direction will have to be a public acceptance that mistakes were made.
What particularly shows up the partisanness and stupidity of this whole flap is that what he was saying was not unique at all and had recently been said by the US ambassador to Iraq — though the story got little notice. But it’s on the record. I think the rage more has to do with the fact that Fernandez was talking to the “enemy”, Jazeera.
Arrogant US Officials Made Mistakes in Iraq, Envoy Says
Agence France Presse
BAQUBA, Iraq, 6 October 2007 — The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said yesterday that US officials had been arrogant and made many mistakes during efforts to rebuild Iraq after the 2003 invasion. “It’s important to recognize that mistakes have been made over the last few years. There have been times when US officials have behaved arrogantly and were not receptive to advice from local leaders,� he told Iraqi officials. “We have made mistakes in the process of rebuilding Iraq,� he said.
“The path for success is clear. We are committed to helping Iraq stand on its own two feet,� he added, speaking three-and-a-half years after US-led forces toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein. Khalilzad was speaking in Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, at the inauguration of a provincial reconstruction team, a joint military and civilian project to oversee rebuilding work. Diyala is a war-torn region north of Baghdad in the grip of a vicious campaign of sectarian cleansing by rival Sunni and Shiite militant groups.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Iraqi leaders yesterday to end their “political inaction� and put aside their differences to rein in sectarian violence that threatens to tear apart the country. Her visit, during a Middle East tour, will focus new attention on Iraq in the United States at a time when President George W. Bush’s administration is on the defensive over the war in campaigning for next month’s congressional elections.
Rice flew in to Baghdad on an unannounced mission to meet the national unity government she helped forge earlier this year but which has failed to deliver on promises of improved security and services and ending chronic fuel shortages.
“Our role … is to support all the parties and indeed to press all of the parties to work toward that resolution quickly, because obviously the security situation is not one that can be tolerated and is not one that is being helped by political inaction,â€� she told reporters traveling with her.