Giving no ground despite rising casualties, US President George W. Bush says more American troops may be heading for Iraq with authority to use decisive force in a mission that "may become more difficult before it is finished."
Bush said America's will was being tested by violence that has turned April into the deadliest month in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad a year ago.
"Look, nobody likes to see dead people on their television screens," Bush said. "I don't. It's a tough time for the American people to see that. It's gut-wrenching."
The president went before the nation Tuesday night with a speech and question-and-answer session focusing on Iraq and the government's reaction to warning signs about terrorists before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Neither Bush's 17 minutes of opening remarks nor the 15 questions that followed strayed from those two topics, which the president has made central to his re-election but on which his support in polls has declined markedly.
Nonetheless, the president expressed confidence he would win over voters in elections this November.
"I don't plan on losing my job. I plan on telling the American people that I've got a plan to win the war on terror. And I believe they'll stay with me," he said.
Though nearly half the questions Bush fielded offered him the chance to admit a mistake or express regret for his administration's actions in Iraq or on the 2001 attacks, he never did -- except to apologize that he couldn't come up with any example of a failing.
A recent spike in violence has killed at least 83 US troops this month as US forces fight Sunni Muslim insurgents in the city of Fallujah, Shiite militiamen in the south and gunmen in Baghdad and on its outskirts.
In response, Bush said he has told military commanders to be prepared to use "decisive force" against insurgents and that he was ready himself to allow an increase, rather than the planned decrease, in US troop strength in Iraq.
He promised "evidence in the months to come" of progress in Iraq, for both Iraqis and Americans growing weary of the instability and violence plaguing the country. But he also warned that success could come at an even higher cost than already is being paid.
"Our work may become more difficult before it is finished," the president said. "No one can predict all the hazards that lie ahead or the cost that they will bring. Yet, in this conflict, there is no safe alternative to resolute action."
Looking longer-term, he tried to answer critics who have said the Iraq operation is too dominated by the US. He touted efforts to devise a more formal role for NATO and to win the involvement of additional countries by giving a UN envoy the power to help decide which Iraqis would be placed in charge when power is transferred June 30 from the US occupying authority.
Bush also said he was "proud" of the coalition of countries that had sent troops to Iraq and suggested he would seek for a new UN Security Council resolution "that will help other nations to decide to participate" in Iraq's reconconstruction. He did not elaborate.
The president said that within the last week he had spoken to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, both of whom have sent troops to Iraq, saying he was "heartened" by their resolve.
British Prime Minister "Tony Blair is the same way," Bush said. "He understands, like I understand, that we cannot yield at this point in time, that we must remain steadfast and strong."
Bush repeated his resolve to see that the June 30 date is met, saying to do otherwise would lead Iraqis to feel betrayed and "those in Iraq who trade in hatred and conspiracy theories" to gain strength.
Senator John Kerry, the likely Democratic party candidate in the presidential election, said the president failed to explain how he would stabilize Iraq.
"We need to set a new course in Iraq," the Massachusetts senator said in a statement. "We need to internationalize the effort and put an end to the American occupation. We need to open up the reconstruction of Iraq to other countries. We need a real transfer of political power to the UN."
Even as Bush outlined what he portrayed as a detailed road map to success in Iraq, his appearance was every bit as much about trying to shift public opinion on the US mission.
According to polls, approval of his handling of Iraq among Americans has declined to the mid-40 percent level, and approval for his handling of terrorism has dipped into the mid-50s. Growing numbers of people say the military action in Iraq has increased rather than decreased the threat of terrorism.
Perhaps most surprising was Bush's switch from a consistently upbeat view of the situation in Iraq to what he acknowledged was a "pretty somber assessment" on Tuesday of the difficulties there. He talked of "tough weeks" and "serious violence," acknowledging that recent developments have been hard on the military and their relatives, on the American public and even on his own administration.
But he would only go so far, rejecting comparisons to the Vietnam War -- which have come mostly from Democrats critical of Bush's Iraq policies -- and insisting that most Iraqis are glad that the US freed their country from Saddam Hussein's rule and are remaining there to help provide security.
"The violence we have seen is a power-grab by these extreme and ruthless elements," he said. "It's not a civil war. It's not a popular uprising. Most of Iraq is relatively stable."
On Sept. 11, Bush said he "oftentimes" asks himself what he could have done differently before the attacks. "There are some things I wish we'd have done, when I look back. I mean, hindsight's easy," he said.
But, he added, "The person responsible for the attacks was Osama bin Laden."
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