U.S. arrogant, stupid in Iraq: American diplomat
Last Updated: Saturday, October 21, 2006 | 10:59 PM ET
CBC News
A senior U.S. diplomat has criticized his country's role in Iraq as President George W. Bush said the United States is still expecting to win the war, but is changing its tactics.
"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," Alberto Fernandez, an Arabic-speaking diplomat in the State Department's bureau of Near Eastern affairs, said on Al-Jazeera television on Saturday.
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U.S. open to talks
Fernandez also said that the solution in Iraq requires national reconciliation, and the U.S. is ready to talk with any group except al-Qaeda in Iraq. That suggests that the the U.S. will talk with the Sunni and Shia factions that have reduced the country to a state akin to civil war.
He said the sectarian fighting, and the insurgency — which involves both al-Qaeda and the Baath Party, which ran Iraq under deposed dictator Saddam Hussein — was not just the fault of the U.S.
"We are witnessing failure in Iraq and that's not the failure of the United States alone. But it is a disaster for the region."
An administration official wondered whether the translation was accurate, the Associated Press reported. The unidentified official said Fernandez was not repeating the administration position.
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