Bush, US commanders meet to weigh Iraq tactics

George W Bush

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush met today with top US military commanders to discuss the Iraq war and said he would "make every necessary change" in tactics to try to control spiralling violence there.

Despite growing election-year pressure from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers for an overhaul of his Iraq strategy, Bush insisted he would not abandon his goal of building a self-sustaining Iraq government.

The president, however, acknowledged in his weekly radio address that the violence has risen sharply. In October, nearly 80 US troops have been killed, a pace that if continued could make it one of the deadliest months for American forces since the war began in 2003.

Bush said the military always reviews the way it conducts the war and "we will continue to be flexible, and make every necessary change to prevail in this struggle."

He added, "Our goal in Iraq is clear and unchanging: Our goal is victory. What is changing are the tactics we use to achieve that goal."

Bush held a 90-minute videoconference involving US Vice President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, top White House officials and US military officials in Iraq.

Gen. John Abizaid, who oversees the Iraq war as head of the US Central Command, is in Washington and was a key presenter at the videoconference.

"The participants focussed on the nature of the enemy, the challenges in Iraq, how to better pursue our strategy, and the stakes of succeeding for the region and the security of the American people," White House spokeswoman Nicole Guillemard said. She said there would be a similar forum in coming weeks.

While insisting he is always open to adjustments in tactics in Iraq, Bush has denounced Democrats calling for a course correction as supporting a "doubt and defeat" approach.

DEMOCRATS ASSAIL STRATEGY

Democratic congressional candidate Diane Farrell, delivering her party's radio message, said the Bush administration's plan amounted to little more than a slogan of "stay the course."

"To be blunt, the president and the Republican Congress have been wrong on Iraq and wrong to keep their failed strategy," said Farrell, who is vying to unseat Connecticut Republican Rep. Chris Shays.

Polls suggest that discontent with the Iraq war may cost Republicans control of the US Congress at the November 7 midterm elections.

Farrell joined a chorus of Democrats who have called for Rumsfeld to be fired and accused the Bush administration of giving a "flat denial of the horrible reality" in Iraq.

But Bush, sounding a more sombre tone than many of his comments on Iraq in the past, said, "The last few weeks have been rough for our troops in Iraq and for the Iraqi people," he added.

Bush quoted Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, who said this week that a two-month-old crackdown on violence Baghdad through mass troop reinforcements "has not met our overall expectations."

Longtime Bush family friend and former Secretary of State James Baker is leading a panel that is preparing recommendations for alternative strategies in Iraq.

But the Iraq Study Group's report will not be issued until after the November 7 elections.

Jeffrey White, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the recent comments by Gen. Caldwell, as well as Bush's meeting with the commanders, suggested a substantial revision of Iraq policy was being weighed.

"It looks to me like this supertanker is turning," White said. "It takes a long time but I think the turn is beginning to be made."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters while travelling to Moscow that people should not over-interpret the videoconference as portending a big overhaul of the Iraq strategy.

"I would not read into this somehow that there is a full-scale push for a major reevaluation," she said.

- REUTERS