US President George W. Bush said on Monday he believes September will be an "important moment" to assess the extent of progress in Iraq under his much-criticized troop buildup plan.
Bush, who rejected timetables for a US pullout from Iraq proposed by Democrats, is under pressure by lawmakers from his Republican Party to show progress by September or risk their desertion.
September is key, as General David Petraeus, commander of US forces in Iraq, is scheduled to report on the progress of Bush's strategy to add 28,000 troops to US forces in the country.
"I see it as an important moment, because David Petraeus says that's when he'll have a pretty good assessment as to what the effects of the surge has been," Bush said in an interview when pressed on whether he sees September as a make-or-break period.
A group of Republican lawmakers visited Bush privately at the White House earlier this month to express their concerns. Bush called it a good session that included a "very frank discussion" of his views about Iraq and "their hopes that we can succeed."
"Very few people come to the White House and say, `Gosh, I hope we fail.' Most people are saying, `Well, I hope this works, and I am concerned about the situation there,'" Bush said.
Congress is trying to approve by next week about US$100 billion in new funds for US troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan because existing funds are running out.
But lawmakers and Bush are embroiled in a fight over whether any conditions should be attached to that money, such as Democrats' desire to impose timetables for ending the four-year-old war.
Talks last Friday that appeared to be edging toward an agreement ended in acrimony.
Bush said he had directed White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten to negotiate with lawmakers on what consequences should be imposed to pressure the Iraqi government to meet measurements of progress.
Meanwhile, an explosion tore through a market in a flashpoint Baghdad neighborhood yesterday, killing at least 24 people and wounding dozens, many of them children, medical and defense officials said.
Nearby Yarmuk hospital received 24 dead -- including four women and three children and six corpses burned beyond recognition -- and 39 wounded from the car bomb attack in Amil, in the southwest of the Iraqi capital, a medic said.
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