US President George W. Bush, who has contended that the US was winning the war in Iraq, said for the first time that US forces were not winning there. He also said the military would be expanded to fight a long-term battle against terrorism.
Bush did not say on Tuesday that the US was losing the war. Instead, when asked during an interview with the Washington Post whether the war was being won, the president borrowed the phrasing of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine General Peter Pace.
"You know, I think an interesting construct that General Pace uses is, `We're not winning, we're not losing.' There's been some very positive developments. And you take a step back and look at progress in Iraq, you say, well, it's amazing -- constitutional democracy in the heart of the Middle East, which is a remarkable development in itself," he said.
However, he also acknowledged the threat of sectarian violence, saying that part of the policy review for Iraq the administration has undertaken will deal with how to help the Iraqis provide for their own security.
"And I'll come forward with a plan that will enable us to achieve that objective," he said in the Oval Office interview.
Two weeks before last month's elections, which shifted control of Congress from the Republicans to the Democrats, Bush asserted that "absolutely we're winning" in Iraq.
Bush also said he plans to increase the overall size of the US military, which has been stretched by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he has asked Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to report back to him with a plan to increase ground forces.
Bush did not say how many troops might be added, but he said he agreed with officials in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill that the military is stretched too thin to deal with the demands of fighting terrorism.
"I'm inclined to believe that we do need to increase our troops -- the Army, the Marines," Bush told the Post. "And I talked about this to Secretary Gates and he is going to spend some time talking to the folks in the building, come back with a recommendation to me about how to proceed forward on this idea."
The White House said Bush's decision about expanding the size of the military was separate from his search for a new approach to the war in Iraq.
"This is necessary for the long term obligations in the war on terror," presidential spokesman Tony Snow said.
Snow acknowledged that Bush is considering sending more troops to Iraq, an option that worries top generals because of its questionable payoff and potential backlash.
Bush said he has not yet made a decision about a new strategy for Iraq, which he is expected to announce next month. He said his decision to increase the size of the armed forces was in response not just to the war in Iraq but to the broader struggle against Islamic extremists around the globe.
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