US 'arrogant' and 'stupid'

Bush insists that the US will not abandon its mission and will continue to build a self-sustaining Iraqi government.

October 22, 2006

Baghdad: The United States had shown "arrogance" and "stupidity" in Iraq, a senior US official was quoted as saying.

Alberto Fernandez, director of public diplomacy in the State Department's bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, also told Al Jazeera that Washington would meet with any Iraqi group except Al Qaida to end the increasing insurgent violence.

The comment came as US President George W. Bush consulted top military and security advisers over a change of tactics in Iraq.

He insisted that the US would not abandon its mission and would continue to build a self-sustaining democratic Iraqi government.

"We tried to do our best [in Iraq] but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq," Fernandez was quoted as saying.

"We are open to dialogue because we all know that, at the end of the day, the solution to the hell and the killings in Iraq is linked to an effective Iraqi national reconciliation," he said. "The Iraqi government is convinced of this." However, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Fernandez had been misquoted.

Fernandez spoke to Al Jazeera after a man claiming to be a spokesman for Saddam Hussain's banned Baath Party told the network the United States was seeking a face-saving exodus from Iraq.

The website said the spokesman, referred to as Abu Mohammed, outlined a series of demands he said would have to be met before talks with the United States could begin. Fernandez dismissed the report as a farce.

Links:

US Iraq war debate heats up ahead of legislative vote

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