# Great diplomat Obama strikes again. "Ignorance and incompetence" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 30, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541 "2012-05-30T13:43:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/1 "2012-05-30T13:43:05Z")
[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-30/polish-premier-demands-u-s-response-to-obama-death-camp-remark.html](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-30/polish-premier-demands-u-s-response-to-obama-death-camp-remark.html) “The White House will apologize for this outrageous mistake,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote on his Twitter Inc. account. “It’s a shame that such a momentous ceremony has been overshadowed by ignorance and incompetence.” ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/2 "2012-05-30T13:48:05Z")
Check your link. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/3 "2012-05-30T13:51:50Z")
Thank you. [http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-30/polish-premier-demands-u-s-response-to-obama-death-camp-remark.html](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-30/polish-premier-demands-u-s-response-to-obama-death-camp-remark.html) My incompetence at least does not cause diplomatic incidents 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/4 "2012-05-30T13:52:38Z")
[Corrected link](http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-30/polish-premier-demands-u-s-response-to-obama-death-camp-remark?category=), since the OP seems incapable of doing such a simple task. Maybe the OP doesn’t know how to make a correct link. Either that or they flubbed it. Irony much? ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/5 "2012-05-30T13:52:59Z")
Yeah, I’ve got a story about the DREAM Act with pretty much no mention of President Obama. Try again. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/6 "2012-05-30T13:57:24Z")
This is proof positive that Romney is better for Amercia. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/7 "2012-05-30T13:59:31Z")
What, incompetence? He referred to a Polish deathcamp during the Holocaust. The camp was in the borders of Poland. The worst of the Holocaust took place in Poland. Three million Jews were annihilated. It would have been better to say “Nazi deathcamps in Poland”, but whoever wrote the piece was thinking more about geography than responsibility. Poorly chosen words? Sure. Worthy of an international incident? Hardly. The administration has already released a sincere apology. Get your panties out of their twist and move on. Nothing to see. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/8 "2012-05-30T14:00:47Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > Poorly chosen words? Sure. Worthy of an international incident? Hardly. Poles certainly think it is. > [@](#): > > The administration has already released a sincere apology. Poles certainly don’t think it has. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/9 "2012-05-30T14:02:40Z")
\*\*phouka \*\*- you’ve expressed exactly what I was thinking. To me, this is yet another example of people going out of their way to be offended. And if it matters, both sides of my family came from Poland. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/10 "2012-05-30T14:04:19Z")
[http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100161347/barack-obama-has-insulted-38-million-poles-with-his-crass-and-ignorant-polish-death-camp-remark/](http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100161347/barack-obama-has-insulted-38-million-poles-with-his-crass-and-ignorant-polish-death-camp-remark/) “Weasel words from the White House will do little however to calm Polish anger. After all, these were carefully scripted remarks by the president reading off a teleprompter. Six millions Poles died at the hands of Nazi Germany during World War Two, including three million Polish Jews during the Holocaust. The president’s use of the term “Polish death camp” is hugely insulting to the Polish people, and will reinforce the growing image across Eastern and Central Europe of an American presidency that cares little for key US allies, especially against the backdrop of its controversial and weak-kneed “reset” policy towards Russia. For a US administration that likes to boast of “smart power,” this was an act of staggering historical ignorance as well as crass insensitivity.” ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/11 "2012-05-30T14:05:18Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Poles certainly think it is. > Poles certainly don’t think it has. Well there goes the Pole vote. And yours, I presume. It sound like after this incident that you just won’t. Vote. For. Obama. Now. If only the president hadn’t offended the Poles… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/12 "2012-05-30T14:07:11Z")
Do you know who else pretended that Poles were violent? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/13 "2012-05-30T14:07:53Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Well there goes the Pole vote. And probably the Nazi vote as well. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/14 "2012-05-30T14:17:13Z")
I’m not sure that the Poles will have much effect on the polls. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/15 "2012-05-30T14:19:34Z")
Those words were entirely accurate. My family was killed and everything of theirs stolen by Polish people. They probably never even saw a German. Germany has atoned many times over for their sins. Poland still won’t admit their guilt. That shithole is still the most anti-Semitic place in all of Europe. Fuck them and their outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/16 "2012-05-30T14:22:08Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > [http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100161347/barack-obama-has-insulted-38-million-poles-with-his-crass-and-ignorant-polish-death-camp-remark/](http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100161347/barack-obama-has-insulted-38-million-poles-with-his-crass-and-ignorant-polish-death-camp-remark/) > > “Weasel words from the White House will do little however to calm Polish anger. After all, these were carefully scripted remarks by the president reading off a teleprompter. Six millions Poles died at the hands of Nazi Germany during World War Two, including three million Polish Jews during the Holocaust. The president’s use of the term “Polish death camp” is hugely insulting to the Polish people, and will reinforce the growing image across Eastern and Central Europe of an American presidency that cares little for key US allies, especially against the backdrop of its controversial and weak-kneed “reset” policy towards Russia. For a US administration that likes to boast of “smart power,” this was an act of staggering historical ignorance as well as crass insensitivity.” Criticism from a frequent Fox correspondent? I’m stunned, I tells ya. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/17 "2012-05-30T14:25:22Z")
People make errors, adults apologize for their errors, and as errors go this was pretty minor. If this had been GWB, he’d have tried to play it off by saying it was just a Polack joke. If it were Mitt Romney he’d just try to fire Poland and find a more efficient ally. If this had been Sarah Palin she’d already have released a rambling incoherent justification about how Poland should be more appreciative that we liberated them in World War 1. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/18 "2012-05-30T14:28:18Z")
This has been reported in by the Economist, the BBC, etc. Lots of “Non-Fox News” sources. The simple reality is in international relations there has been a significant push not to use the term “Polish Death Camps.” For whatever reason, it’s really important to Poles that the term not be used that way because it implies they were complicit in the death camps. Obama flubbing it is a bit bad because he was actually giving a speech in which he honored Poles who fought and died to try and end the Holocaust. It’s not the biggest deal in the world but I have noticed that from a protocol perspective this has been a **very** incompetent White House. Now, the standard SDMB response will be to crow about various things Bush did with international relations. That’s irrelevant to the point and also has nothing to do with protocol. The Bush White House mostly got protocol matters right, they tended to piss off allies because of substantive disagreements (which is definitely a worse problem.) But the Obama White House has repeatedly offended European allies over amateurish protocol issues that makes me wonder if he has bad staff handling this part of things. Also, of the occupied countries that collaborated with the Nazis, Poland probably collaborated less than most and also actively fought against the Holocaust. I don’t doubt some Polish people mistreated some Jews, but by and large Poland deserves no blame for the Holocaust. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/19 "2012-05-30T14:29:48Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > If this had been Sarah Palin she’d already have released a rambling incoherent justification about how Poland should be more appreciative that we liberated them in World War 1. Darn tooting. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541/20 "2012-05-30T14:32:27Z")
And this from a Chicago politician? Awareness of Polish-American sensitivities should be second nature to him. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-diplomat-obama-strikes-again-ignorance-and-incompetence/623541.md?page=2)