This just on the BBC

A senior US state department official has said that the US has shown "arrogance and stupidity" in Iraq.

Alberto Fernandez said in an interview with al-Jazeera TV that there was room for "strong criticism" of US policy.

But he added that the situation in Iraq was not just a failure of US policy, but a "disaster" for the region.

His remarks come on a day when US President George W Bush said US troops were changing tactics to deal with the insurgency. ... 

Mr Fernandez, an Arabic speaker who is director of public diplomacy in the department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, told Qatar-based al-Jazeera that history would decide how well the US had done.

"However, I think there is great room for strong criticism, because without doubt, there was arrogance and stupidity by the United States in Iraq," he said.

He said that Washington was willing to talk to any group in Iraq, apart from al-Qaeda, to help end the violence.

"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. ...

"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," he said.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6074182.stm

Published: 2006/10/21 23:15:45 GMT

UPDATE: A story in the NYTimes (10/23/06) reports that Mr. Fernandez has said he misspoke.