John Kerry's First Gaffe- Kyrzakhstan

John Kerry has been U.S. Secretary of State for less than a month and he's made his first major gaffe. In a speech at the University of Virginia on February 20,  he gave kudos to U.S. State Department and USAID employees for helping to strengthen democracy by supporting "democratic institutions in Kyrzakhstan and Georgia." Trouble is, there's Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, but no "Kyrzakhstan." He was actually referring to the former. Oops.

The State Department kindly omitted the error in the official transcript of Wednesday's speech, which Mr. Kerry delivered on the eve of his first foreign trip as secretary of state.

Mr. Kerry's flub was all the more awkward, because Kyrgyzstan is a key ally in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and a major recipient of U.S. aid, which totalled $41 million (£27 million) in 2011.

Washington has actively promoted democratic development in the country since pro-democracy revolutions topped strongmen in 2005 and 2010, leading to free elections in 2011.

A secretary at the Kyrgyz Embassy in London said nobody was available to comment.

Of course, other politicians have bungled names, including George W. Bush who

.. mixed up Russia and its tiny southern neighbour Georgia, which were then at war, when he warned against possible efforts to depose "Russia's duly elected government."

It's just that the media always seems to give the Democrats a free pass, and even the State Department corrected the mistake in the posted transcript on their website.
Gaffe
Source: Business Insider