I’m confused. Is this part of that “smart power” we’ve heard so much about?

Clinton: I wish Queen Beatrix and all the people of the Netherlands, Aruba, and the Dutch Antilles a happy celebration

And just to be sure that that’s what she said, I checked the State Department’s website. Sure enough, here‘s her release.

I wish Queen Beatrix and all the people of the Netherlands, Aruba, and the Dutch Antilles a happy celebration, and look forward to deepening this partnership even more as we work for a brighter future for all our people.

The problem here? The Dutch Antilles were dissolved last year.

Maybe you hadn’t heard about the dissolution, but it seems like something the State Department should know. Or at least Google before sending out a press release. You know, Google is free now. So is access to Wikipedia. But maybe they missed that news, too.

Update: Reuters from last October:

Dutch Antilles dissolves as two new countries created

(Reuters) – The former Dutch Caribbean colonies of Curacao and St. Maarten became autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands on Sunday in a change of constitutional status dissolving the Netherlands Antilles.

But wait, it gets better. The State Department’s own website acknowledges the dissolution on its Netherlands Antilles profile page.

The Netherlands Antilles dissolved on October 10, 2010. Curacao and Sint Maarten (the Dutch two-fifths of the island of Saint Martin) became autonomous territories of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius now fall under the direct administration of the Netherlands.

Just in case anyone came jumping to her defense insisting that it’s just slang for some islands that remain behind. Even the State Department acknowledges the Dutch Antilles no longer exist.