Published time: February 17, 2015 11:29
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U.S. Army Europe commander Ben Hodges.(Reuters / Agencja Gazeta)
Tags Conflict, Military, Ukraine, War
A US general and NATO's most senior military commander in Europe said he felt like a “knucklehead” after mixing up the location of the strategically important Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
Speaking to the Scottish daily the Herald, Lt. General Ben Hodges said he was “impressed” the paper had “busted” him for not having his geography straight.
"I felt like such a knucklehead. You made a great point, it was a little bit professionally embarrassing, so my team had some fun laughing at me."
In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Hodges had said the port of Mariupol, where rebel forces launched an offensive on January 24, was on the Black Sea, and not the Sea of Azov. The Sea of Azov is just north of the Black Sea, and is connected by the narrow, 2.5-kilometer-long Strait of Kerch.
The comment raised a few eyebrows among Ukraine watchers on social media, though Hodges insists it was just a slip of the tongue.
"I felt like such a knucklehead because I am an old person so I love maps and I stare at the maps all the time, and I knew Mariupol was on the Sea of Azov. I was careless or just screwed up," he said.
Read More - http://rt.com/usa/233023-hodges-general-mariupol-ukraine/
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