As of 7:29 PM EDT CNN reported that Alberto Fernandez, State Department Director of Public Diplomacy, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs said that the United States actions in Iraq had been at times
"stupid" and " arrogant" in an interview on al Jezeera . Mr. Fernandez also said the U.S. was prepared to deal with
ANY groups within Iraq other than al Qaeda. The interview had been reported overnight on CNN's website, and the
BBC. The al Jezeera interview juxtapositioned Mr. Fernandez with a purported spokesmen for the outlawed yet resurgent Ba'ath Party in Iraq. Yes, the Ba'ath Party of Saddam Hussein fame. Such a commentary must be viewed in the context of what is a Civil War in Iraq and a veritable "Tet offensive" engulfing the country.
It should also be understood in terms of Mr. Fernandez career path in Defense Intelligence, his position inside the State Department, and the patronage he enjoys in the graces of Vice - President Dick Cheney....
Note: Proper respects to Ricard Cranium's piece that hit it in the middle of the night East Coast US.This is offered from my particular perspective with differential data...
In true WYFP fashion, THE PROBLEM IS we have a force of @150,000 strong in harms way in a country of 26 million individuals. Our less than armoured contingent in Iraq is situated in a region of peoples, excluding Israel, that is wholly less than enamored of the United States. Factoring in Egypt, Syria Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan
we are speaking of @450 million individuals.
But First, we'll go live to CNN, with this evenings report sponsored evidently by Dick Cheney. Screen shots below indicate significant pliability at CNN on the story.
Picked off the top right corner of CNN's Web page,
This was the original 7:29 CNN post on the Web, picked off the top right corner of CNN
Farsi-cal.
Mr.Fernandez speaks fluent Arabic and has a resume as impressive as it is intriguing. Born in 1958, his family fled Cuba in 1959 and settled in Hialeah a city in Miami Dade County, Florida. A proud community, Hialeah is said to have one of the highest concentrations of Cuban Americans in the United States. Mr. Fernandez is noted in The State Department's "Hometown Diplomats Program"
According to The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy,
Alberto Fernandez is a Graduate of the U.S. Army Intelligence School at Ft. Huachuca, he studied Arabic at the Defense Language Institute-Foreign Language Center from 1976 to 1977. From 1977 to 1979, he served in the 519th Military Intelligence Batallion/ 18th Military Intelligence Group/18th Airborne Corpsin Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 1981 with a B.A. in Middle East Studies. In 1983, he obtained an M.A. in Middle East Studies from the University of Arizona. Mr. Fernandez has received several departmental awards including a Superior Honor Award in 2003 for his work in Afghanistan, Senior Foreign Service Performance Pay for 2003.
Ed. note: Emphasis added.
In the midst of writing this article the author backtracked and found at the time
an inexplicably bad link on CNN and was greeted with an error screen, depite the fact that the correct url was in plain view.
A click on the CNN front page was attempted to access the original story. It revealed that Fernandez' remarks got the boot to the lower left hand corner of the page, almost out of initial screen view.
Following the lower left link revealed another take on the matter, in a different URL:
Regarding service in the 519th Military Intelligence Batallion/18th Military Intelligence Group/18th Airborne Corps in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, Gobal Security notes:
Global Security further notes that the 519th:
"... participated in combat operations in Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury), Panama (Operation Just Cause), and in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations (Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm). The 519th Military Intelligence Battalion, as a subordinate unit of the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade, provides the highest quality ground-based Signals Intelligence, Human Intelligence, and Counterintelligence support to the XVIII Airborne Corps and Corps Major Support Commands." Ed. note: Emphasis added.
Global Security notes
"...The XVIII Airborne Corps is superbly trained in tactical operational and strategic levels of war and is capable of exercising the nation's ability to conduct strategic forced entry operations, any where in the world on 18 hours notice.
Simply put, this State Department "Diplomat" is a trained Defense Intelligence interrogator.
According to the Minutes of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy in July 2005:
"The Director of Public Diplomacy for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), Mr. Fernandez, reported that NEA is providing funds to PAOs to use for creative programs that suit local audiences and encouraging more "people to people" activity to reach out "broader and wider " to the underclass. NEA public diplomacy involves meeting the challenge of working in a negative environment and proactively using a range of media tools from pan-Arab TV and newspapers to speaking conferences and universities..."
The name of the old Mid East Desk was changed to the more palatable moniker of the "Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs State". As if a rose by any other name doth not smell as sweet. Noneteless, the political spin cycle concerns are in full residence at the Mid East Desk. Mr. Hernandez Boss, operationally, is Karen Hughes, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
Mr. Cheney's grip on the old MidEast Desk is well noted as his daughter, Elizabeth Cheney, previously held the Assistant Secretary's position. Concerns over the revolving door of State Department officials in domestic White House political actions, was not limited to Ms. Cheney. While in Office, Condoleeza Rice engaged in unprecedented electioneering effort by a sitting Secratary of State.
Dick Cheney's personal reach into the National Security apparatus was further cemented by the appointment of Philip J. Perry as General Counsel to the Department of Homeland Security.
According to the Washington Post, Mr. Perry is the Vice President's Son in Law.Mr. Perry is married to the very Ms. Cheney of the State Department. As General Counsel to DHS, this Son "in the Law" is responsible for overseeing all legal matters of Homeland Security. This includes the vetting, qualifications, and legal compliance of government contractors doing business with Homeland Security. Additional responsibilities of the General Counsel's include discretion over civil contractual enforcement or referal to the Justice Department for criminal review, as well as purview to any Litigation brought against the Department, its contractors, or individuals associated with DHS.