Foggy Bottom 'Apologizes' to an Addlepated Potentate

From Albawaba (my bolds):

The Libyan Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the country had accepted an apology from the United States following the sarcastic comments made by a senior official in Washington about Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's sense, stressing its desire to develop bilateral relations in all fields. The ministry said in a statement on Wednesday: "Libya had accepted the apology and deep regret shown by the U.S. State Department."

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department Philip Crowley said Tuesday he was "sorry that my comments turned into an obstacle to the improvement of our bilateral relations." He added that the Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman will soon visit Tripoli, saying that "these comments are not reflective of U.S. policy."

Pretty cryptic, eh? Not much sense of what "sense" was being impugned. Common sense? Fashion sense? Sense of wonder? Sense of timing? A quick search of the Web, though, and all is revealed (in a March 3rd Guardian article):

The British once had a long and silly fight with Spain in the War of Jenkins' Ear. So brace yourselves for what future historians may call the War of Crowley's Joke.

At the tail of last Friday's media briefing, the US state department's spokesman Philip Crowley was asked, according to the official transcript:

Question: Any reflection on the – Qadhafi's declaration of a jihad against Switzerland? I mean, all he was –

Mr Crowley: I saw that report and it just brought me back to a day in September, one of the more memorable sessions of the UN General Assembly that I can recall – lots of words and lots of papers flying all over the place, not necessarily a lot of sense. 

 Not much of a "joke" as far as I can see. More like a statement of fact. That the Americans felt the need to "apologize" for pointing out the painfully obvious--that Emperor Moo Moo is buck nekkid and minus more than a few of his marbles--now, that's a joke.