The US just cant win sometimes

[MG1962]

[Looks round nervously, but can't see Clayton Moore]

Dave

I think he is to busy polishing his libertarian socialist Nazi persona to bother with such mundane matters

 

[Noztradamus]

He shouldn't apologize because it wasn't a mistake.

And yet his White House apologist has already said it was. Are you saying the White House lied?

 

[Puppycow]

Either it is a slow news day in Poland, or at least one country in this world needs to get over itself.

Well, Auschwitz was and is in Poland, which (in English) makes it a ' "Polish " death camp'

I still fail to see how this is wrong. They were in Poland. The majority of those that died in them were Polish. That makes them "Polish Death Camps." It doesn't matter who ran the damn things.

Perhaps some background would clarify:

Usage of the term has been condemned as insulting by the Polish foreign minister Adam Daniel Rotfeld in 2005, who also alleged that it—intentionally or unintentionally—shifted the responsibility for the construction or operation of the camps from the German to the Polish people.

The use of terms explicitly mentioning "Poland" or "Polish" has been monitored and discouraged by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Polonia organizations around the world as well as by all Polish governments since 1989.

So they've been sensitive about it for a long time, and they've been telling people about it. It's a taboo in Poland.

So naturally the Polish see it as what Obama himself might call "a teachable moment."

 

[Cain]

So Obama thinks Polacks are Nazis.

 

[Bad Lieutenant]

Yeah, I suspect the recent BBC Panorama investigation into the shocking levels of Neo-Nazism, racism and anti-Semitism in Polish and Ukrainian football games may have given this "blunder" a bit of weight to the Poles, who are busy denying that they have a problem despite videotaped evidence of massive sections of the crowd chanting racist things and shouting "Sieg Heil!" whilst pulling Nazi salutes.

It's hard to deny. I reckon BO said it on purpose - the USA can't play in the Euros but they can sure get involved!

 

[Bluespaceoddity]

Yes - but apologizing for the mistake is not enough apparently

Probably because the manner in which regret is expressed and by whom is important in a situation like this.

President Obama's reply letter in which he personally expresses his regret and states without ambiguity what he obviously intended to convey at the Medal of Freedom ceremony is attached at the bottom of President Komorowski's public response posted on his website.

http://www.president.pl/en/news/news/art,309,president-on-barack-obamas-letter.html

Hopefully quoting it in full is not inappropriate here:

Friday, 1 June 2012

US President Barack Obama in a letter to Polish President Bronisław Komorowski wrote he had inadvertently used the phrase "Polish death camp" in his recent speech and expressed regret over the mistake.

President Bronisław Komorowski said on Friday that President Barack Obama's letter may be an important element of the struggle for historical truth. Thanks to the letter Poland has gained an important ally in its battle against wrongful qualifications, the president said.

"The events of the past few days and the US President's reply may, in my opinion, signify a very important moment in the struggle for historical truth," president Komorowski told a press conference. "With this letter Poland has gained an important ally in its battle against the misleading, wrongful and painful term 'Polish death camps'" the Polish president said.

"I am convinced that Polish state authorities and institutions, with special emphasis on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will be able to take adequate stock of the US President's declaration in their further (...) struggle for the eradication of confusing, painful and untrue qualifications found in public language outside Poland," the President declared.

The following is the text of President Barack Obama's letter to President Bronisław Komorowski:

Thank you for your letter of May 30. I was proud to honor Jan Karski with the Medal of Freedom, our nations's highest civilian honor. My decision to do so was a reflection of the high esteem in which the American people hold not only a great Polish patriot, but the extraordinary sacrifices of the Polish people during the Nazi occupation of the Second World War.

In referring to "a Polish death camp" rather than " a Nazi death camp in German-occupied Poland," I inadvertently used the phrase that has caused many Poles anguish over the years and that Poland has rightly campaigned to eliminate from public discourse around the world. I regret the error and agree that this moment is an opportunity to ensure that this and future generations know the truth.

As we all know, the Polish people suffered terribly under the brutal Nazi occupation during World War II. In pursuit of their goals of destroying the Polish nation and Polish culture and exterminating European Jewry, the Nazis killed some six million Polish citizens, including three million Polish Jews during the Holocaust. The bravery of Poles in the underground resistance is one of history's great stories of heroism and courage.

Moreover, there simply were no "Polish death camps." The killing centers at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Treblinka, and elsewhere in occupied Poland were built and operated by the Nazi regime. In contrast, many Poles risked their lives - and gave their lives - to save Jews from the Holocaust.

That is why I paid tribute to Polish victims of the Holocaust during my visit to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in April. It is why I was honored to pay my respect at the Tomb of Unknown Soldier and the Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto during my visit to Warsaw last year. An it is why, during the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 201, I commended the government and people of Poland for preserving a place of such pain in order to promote remembrance and learning for the world.

I know well the bonds of friendship between our two countries. I was proud to welcome you to the NATO Summit in my home town of Chicago, which is home to the largest Polish community in the world outside Warsaw. As President, I have worked with you to strengthen the enduring ties between our nations so that our alliance is stronger than it has ever been.

Poland is one of America's strongest and closest allies. We stand united in facing the challenges of the 21st century in Europe and around the world, and I am confident that, working together, we can ensure that the unbreakable bonds of friendship and solidarity between us will only grow stronger in the days and years ahead. (PAP/ own information)

 

[sarge]

It stuns me that the President of Poland spends this much energy over a very minor gaffe - actually compeling a State Ministry to devote resources to "battle the wrongful blah, blah, blah".

There was a movie, a very funny movie, in the late 60s/early 70s about a nation that needed new plumbing for its palace. They invented a Space Program in order to bilk the necessary funds from America. This whole kerflufle feels as if it should have been produced by the same team of screenwriters.

 

[Mycroft]

It stuns me that the President of Poland spends this much energy over a very minor gaffe - actually compeling a State Ministry to devote resources to "battle the wrongful blah, blah, blah".

There was a movie, a very funny movie, in the late 60s/early 70s about a nation that needed new plumbing for its palace. They invented a Space Program in order to bilk the necessary funds from America. This whole kerflufle feels as if it should have been produced by the same team of screenwriters.

I know the book, haven't seen the movie. It's The Mouse on the Moon, which is a sequel to another cold-war farce The Mouse that Roared. Good reads, both of them.

 

[Dragoonster]

So they've been sensitive about it for a long time, and they've been telling people about it. It's a taboo in Poland.

But I don't see anything wrong with it, and the language of the term is correct, so obviously Poland and Poles should have no problem with it! Are they so stupid that they aren't even capable of having the same thoughts as I do?

It's like that time I was in India and killed a cow to make some nice BBQ and they were all outraged and doing other ridiculous to-do about nothing. Hadn't they ever learned that I have no problem eating cow meat? It's like they never gave a thought to what those outside their country think.

(I didn't apologize of course, as it was unnecessary as I did nothing wrong)

 

[epepke]

It stuns me that the President of Poland spends this much energy over a very minor gaffe - actually compeling a State Ministry to devote resources to "battle the wrongful blah, blah, blah".

It doesn't really stun me, but it is more than a bit anal.

That having been said, there appears to be no awareness of protocol whatsoever in the Obama White House.

 

[Bluespaceoddity]

Who knows - If I see any statements I will definitely post them

"Thank you, President Obama. Truth, honor and the legacy of Karski satisfied. Please feel free to send us your staffers for re-education."
http://twitter.com/#!/sikorskiradek

... with that less than gracious last line attached to the end of a message posted -on what appears to be Minister of Foreign Affairs Sikorski's Twitter account- in response to President Obama's letter I can see what you meant with some of your objection expressed in the OP.

 

[Bluespaceoddity]

Yes - but apologizing for the mistake is not enough apparently

Q Can you confirm that the President apologized in a letter to the Polish President about his use of the phrase "Polish death camps" and what was said in that letter?

MR. EARNEST: Well, as you know, Kate, I believe it was the President of Poland sent a letter to President Obama. I can confirm to you that President Obama did send a letter back. We typically are not in the habit of releasing correspondence between the President and other world leaders. But I can tell you that the way that you characterized the content of the letter in your question is not quite accurate.

Q So it wasn’t an apology?

MR. EARNEST: My understanding is that the letter was in line with other public statements that you've seen from this administration. But I don't have any specific words from that letter to read to you.

Q -- that it was his statement?

MR. EARNEST: Well, you've seen the things that we've said.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press...ty-press-secretary-josh-earnest-en-route-minn

 

[Moss]

Q Can you confirm that the President apologized in a letter to the Polish President about his use of the phrase "Polish death camps" and what was said in that letter?

MR. EARNEST: Well, as you know, Kate, I believe it was the President of Poland sent a letter to President Obama. I can confirm to you that President Obama did send a letter back. We typically are not in the habit of releasing correspondence between the President and other world leaders. But I can tell you that the way that you characterized the content of the letter in your question is not quite accurate.

Q So it wasn’t an apology?

MR. EARNEST: My understanding is that the letter was in line with other public statements that you've seen from this administration. But I don't have any specific words from that letter to read to you.

Q -- that it was his statement?

MR. EARNEST: Well, you've seen the things that we've said.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press...ty-press-secretary-josh-earnest-en-route-minn

That's one of the most evasive and vague statements I've read this week.