Top US diplomat: We have shown stupidity and arrogance in Iraq

The Independent:

A senior US diplomat said yesterday that the United States had shown "arrogance" and "stupidity" in Iraq, but warned that failure in the violence-ridden Arab nation would be a disaster for the entire region.

In an interview with al-Jazeera, Alberto Fernandez, director of public diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the US State Department, also said the US was ready to talk with any Iraqi group - excluding al-Qa'ida in Iraq - to reach national reconciliation in the country, which is racked by widening sectarian strife as well as an enduring insurgency.

"We tried to do our best but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq," he said. "We are open to dialogue because we all know that, at the end of the day, the hell and the killings in Iraq are linked to an effective Iraqi national reconciliation," he said, speaking in Arabic.

His remarks came as President George Bush continued to review Iraq strategy with his top generals. In his weekly radio address, broadcast yesterday, he said he would make "every necessary change" in tactics to respond to spiralling violence in Iraq, and acknowledged that a drive to stabilise Baghdad had not gone as planned. But he said he would not abandon his goal of building a self-sustaining Iraqi government.

President Bush said: "The past few weeks have been rough for our troops in Iraq and for the Iraqi people... Our goal in Iraq is clear and unchanging: our goal is victory. What is changing are the tactics we use to achieve that."