Bush puts optimism aside in his assessment of war
Acknowledgment of woes replaces 'stay the course'
WASHINGTON -- President Bush yesterday publicly acknowledged dissatisfaction over the progress in the war in Iraq, and promised a flexible US strategy aimed at establishing a stable Iraqi government while warning the country's leaders that his patience for results could soon wear thin.
With vows of changing tactics and grim descriptions of the war's progress, Bush sought to portray himself as wrestling with the manifold problems of a complex conflict. It was a sharp break in tone from the steely optimism that has defined nearly all of the president's previous comments on Iraq, including his repeated vows to "stay the course" and achieve victory through persistence.
"I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation in Iraq; I'm not satisfied either," Bush said at a White House news conference. "We're pressing Iraq's leaders to take bold measures to save their country. We're making it clear that America's patience is not unlimited."
But Bush continued to back Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, defended the decision to keep fighting in Iraq, and rejected growing calls from Democrats and some Republicans to set a timetable for US withdrawal.
"My view is the only way we lose in Iraq is if we leave before the job is done," the president said. "If I did not think our mission in Iraq was vital to America's security, I'd bring our troops home tomorrow. I met too many wives and husbands who have lost their partners in life, too many children who won't ever see their mom and dad again."
Less than two weeks before critical congressional elections, Bush faced the media to try to bolster sagging public support for the war, which could drag down Republicans candidates in races nationwide. Democrats need 15 seats to take control of the House and six to assume a majority in the Senate.
As surging Democrats hammered Republicans for supporting Bush and his stay-the-course rhetoric despite months of deadly chaos in Iraq, the president has abandoned such determined talk for a nimble stance that leans on the Iraqi government to take control of the nation's security.
Yet absent a true rethinking of the US mission and strategy, Bush's change in tone is nothing more than semantics, said Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.
"The press conference was more about killing Democrats than about winning the war," Gelb said. "The slogan remains 'victory' -- undefined, without any clear sense of what the strategy is of moving us in that direction."
Bush dismissed a timetable for troop withdrawal, saying instead that he prefers more informal "benchmarks" for the Iraqi government to meet. He asserted that the United States is winning its struggle against "extremists and radicals," and to depart prematurely will create a terrorist haven.
Democrats, however, blasted Bush for changing his rhetoric and not his war strategy. They called it a desperate ploy to help Republicans who are in political danger for supporting him on the war.
"President Bush now acknowledges we need a political solution in Iraq even as he prepares to continue the failed course of trapping more troops in a civil war," said Senator John F. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat.
Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said the president ignores the big picture: The fierce sectarian fighting that puts US troops in danger each day will end only after bitter political differences among Iraq's ethnic groups are settled.
"He's got it reversed. The political decisions have got to be made first, before the violence is going to end," Levin said. "You cannot resolve this problem militarily. There is only a political solution to this violence."
Polls have shown public support for the Iraq war continues to drop, damaging GOP leaders' efforts to convince the public that they are stronger than the Democrats on national security issues. A
Meanwhile, there were fresh signs of tension yesterday between US officials and the Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who disavowed a US-led raid in Sadr City -- a militia stronghold -- and attacked the White House for saying that his government needs to do more to curb insurgent violence.
"I affirm that this government represents the will of the people, and no one has the right to impose a timetable on it," Maliki declared at a news conference in Baghdad.
The president said he remains confident that Maliki is the right man to lead Iraq, but quickly added a warning: His confidence won't last forever.
"I remind him we're with him -- so long as he continues to make tough decisions," Bush said. "We expect that the Iraqi government will make the hard decisions necessary to unite the country and listen to the will of the 12 million people."
The president again endorsed Rumsfeld, the architect of the Iraq invasion, who has drawn harsh fire from war critics. "I'm satisfied of how he's done all his jobs," Bush said. "He is a smart, tough, capable administrator."
Bush, who is traveling extensively for GOP candidates in the closing days of the campaign, was upbeat about Republicans' chances on Election Day, and ridiculed widespread predictions of a Democratic sweep.
"We've got some people dancing in the end zone here in Washington, D.C.; they've got [Democrats] measuring their drapes," he said. "But the American people are going to decide, and they're going to decide this race based upon who best to protect the American people and who best to keep the taxes low."
Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com. 
