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Bush dissatisfied with Iraq violence

Suzanne Goldenberg, Will Woodward and Michael Howard

Suzanne Goldenberg, Will Woodward

and Michael Howard

Washington/Irbil: United States President George W. Bush on Wednesday tried to rekindle America's faith in his strategy for Iraq, admitting he was dissatisfied with the worsening violence, but insisting the U.S. would make the tactical changes that would lead to victory.

With less than two weeks to go before mid-term elections in which the Republican party is expected to suffer heavily because of doubts about Mr Bush's leadership of the war, Wednesday's press conference at the Oval Office was intended to convince ordinary Americans that the President has a credible plan for Iraq.

``I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation in Iraq. I'm not satisfied either. And that is why we're taking new steps to help secure Baghdad and constantly adjusting our tactics across the country to meet the changing threat,'' Mr Bush said.

Although Mr Bush was upbeat about the Republicans' prospects, defying predictions the party would lose control of the House and the Senate, he acknowledged the depth of American unease about the war. ``I think I owe an explanation to the American people,'' he said. ``The people need to know that we have a plan for victory.''

His performance was a departure from other wartime press conferences when Mr Bush had sought to hammer home the importance of standing firm in Iraq, and had shied away from detailed discussion of its toll on U.S. forces.

He also acknowledged that the violence had inflicted its heaviest casualties on the U.S. in a year, with more than 90 soldiers killed so far this month. But he insisted that while Al-Qaeda was constantly changing its mode of attack, so were U.S. forces. —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

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