Yesterday and again this morning the Bush State Department applied the spin to “correct” the record. It was a “mistranslation” State Department spokesmen said. Fernandez’ point was, they said, “lost in translation” but the department did not offer a corrected translation though they presumably had an accurate translation of the Arabic language interview on the Secretary’s desk immediately after the words were spoken.

The fact is that in speaking candidly Mr. Fernandez hit the nail on the head. It is no secret that the Second Iraqi War has been marked with arrogance and stupidity from the very beginning. The Defense Department rejected advice from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that it would take a force of at least 500,000 troops to subdue and occupy Iraq. The Secretary of Defense assured the White House that he could do the job with less that 1/5th that number. The Chairman was eased into retirement. Was that arrogance or just stupidity?

On March 19, 2003 the invasion came after a one day air campaign. The race for Baghdad was on. Whole units of the Iraqi Army were bypassed by the hard charging Americans. With their arms intact they faded into the souks and alleys leaving their uniforms behind to become the core of a guerilla campaign. Even after Baghdad fell and the President made his famous “mission accomplished” carrier landing; after the Iraqi army had been disbanded; and after the Coalition Provisional Authority had been installed in Baghdad’s green zone abandoned ammunition dumps were left unguarded to be looted of the conventional stuff of war while the vain search for WMDs went on. Was that arrogance or just stupidity? The list of examples is endless.

Now, faced with failure of his “stay the course” policy that has lead to what Senator Arlen Specter calls “chaos” the President is addressing the problem by changing the language he uses. He has abandoned his catch phrase “stay the course”. He says that his meaning has been lost in translation. He doesn’t speak reality. Ambassador Fernandez did and he can expect to pay the price. He will feel an urgent need to spend more time with his family.