US News and World Report quotes Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic Hof on the effects of Victoria Nuland’s leaked conversation:
Frederic Hof, a former ambassador now with the Atlantic Council, says this episode is “one of those professional embarrassments that happens to the best of us.”
“I’m sure that Toria – an intensely competent and conscientious professional – was and is mortified,” Hof, who served as special adviser for transition in Syria under President Barack Obama, says in an email. He cautions against speaking frankly with close colleagues or reporting back to headquarters using communication networks that aren’t secure. “Everyone makes mistakes. Yet unless one wants to see one’s words broadcast publicly, one does not communicate sensitive information on an open telephone line or a Blackberry. Every once in awhile this lesson gets re-learned in a very awkward way.”