WASHINGTON, DC—Just 15 minutes away from Dulles International Airport yesterday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reportedly shouted to herself, muttered an expletive under her breath, and made a sharp U-turn across four lanes of highway when she realized she had left her interpreter at home, Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte confirmed.
"Secretary Rice has had a lot on her mind recently, and even though she left her interpreter out in an obvious place the night before her important visit to the Mideast, well, sometimes these things happen," said Negroponte, who claimed that frustrating mistakes occur among high-ranking officials more than one would think. "Good thing her toll-booth collector had a thick Pakistani accent."
Rice, reportedly driving at speeds exceeding 100 mph, called an assistant when she was 10 minutes away from her house and ordered him to have the interpreter ready as soon as she pulled into the driveway.