Oops of the Day 1: Stephen Hadley, US National Security Adviser

Looks like Stephen Hadley, President Bush's National Security advisor, can't tell the difference between Tibet and Nepal. In this interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News' "This Week" on April 13, Sunday, Hadley explains why Bush is going to the Beijing Olympics later this year when no sitting President of the United States has ever attended any foreign Olympics. In discussing the US response to the Tibet issue, Hadley repeatedly mentioned "Nepal" and not once mentioned "Tibet":

"The President is going to the Olympics... The way to deal with the issue of Nepal is not by some -- a statement that you're not going to the opening ceremonies and say, therefore, I checked the Nepal box."

"What he's doing on Nepal is what we think the international community ought to be doing, which is approaching the Chinese privately through diplomatic channels and sending a very firm message of concern for human rights, a concern for what's happening in Nepal, urging the Chinese government to understand that it is in their interest to reach out to representatives of the Dalai Lama, and to show, while the whole world is watching China, that they are determined to treat their citizens with dignity and respect. There is an opportunity here. And if countries are really concerned about Nepal, we shouldn't have this sort of non-issue of opening ceremonies or not. They should do the hard work of quiet diplomacy to urge the Chinese government -- in their interest -- to take advantage of this opportunity to do something,"

Maybe it was true what Miss Teen South Carolina said. Someone send Hadley a map!

Related link
Shanghaiist: Oops of the Day 2: Jack Cafferty, CNN commentator