Bush: Iraq war is "ugly," but give it 2 months

WASHINGTON -- Stemming a revolt among Senate Republicans, President Bush appeared Thursday to win two more months for his strategy in Iraq after arguing that U.S. forces have made some progress and need time to make the country more secure.

Delivering a mixed review of Iraq's progress toward benchmarks demanded by Congress, Bush asked for patience with an admittedly "ugly" conflict.

The White House's self-labeled "sober" assessment was met with derision by congressional Democrats, who are seeking a phased withdrawal and stepping up pressure on Republicans.

Just hours after Bush's plea, the House voted 223-201 to demand a withdrawal by April 1. Only four Republicans joined the majority, and the margin was not veto-proof.

The administration's assessment of 18 benchmarks -- which gave the Iraqis eight grades of "satisfactory," eight of "unsatisfactory" and two mixed reviews -- provided Bush and his backers support for claims that Iraqi leaders are making some progress toward gaining control of their violence-wracked nation.

He said he might be willing to consider a new approach, but not until September, when Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are scheduled to make a more comprehensive assessment.

The president said Congress has "all the right" to finance the war but no business controlling deployments. "I don't think Congress ought to be running the war," the president said.

The president asked for more time to let the buildup of U.S. military forces he announced in January deliver results. He noted the increase of nearly 30,000 troops, which boosted the U.S. deployment to about 160,000, was only recently fully deployed, and he cautioned the assessment was merely a first "snapshot" of the surge's impact.

"I understand why the American people are -- you know, they're tired of the war," the president said at a White House news conference. "It's affecting our psychology. I've said this before. I understand that this is an ugly war."

As he has before, Bush warned of the "consequences" of failure in Iraq, which he said could include an emboldened network of Iraqi-based terrorists ready to carry the fight to the U.S. and a possible bloodbath within Iraq.

"It would mean that we'd be risking mass killings on a horrific scale," he said, repeatedly citing the threat of al-Qaida adherents in Iraq.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called Bush "out of touch" with the situation in Iraq. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., are working to muster Republican support for a new resolution making war funding contingent on a withdrawal of combat troops by April 30.

Moderate Republicans -- who have been breaking against Bush in the Senate -- stuck with him in Thursday's House vote. Rep. Michael Castle of Delaware, a leading moderate, stressed that he would like to see the administration change course, but not the way the Democrats are prescribing.

Thursday's White House assessment of Iraq was mandated during an earlier, protracted debate and previous confrontation with the president. After Bush vetoed a war-spending bill containing timelines for troop withdrawals, Congress reluctantly authorized an additional $100 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year -- but with the stipulation that the president report this week and in September on Iraqi progress toward achieving 18 political, military and economic "benchmarks."

Reporting mixed progress, the administration's assessment says that "the overall trajectory" in Iraq "has begun to stabilize, compared to the deteriorating trajectory seen over the course of 2006."

It states that Iraqis have made "satisfactory" progress toward providing military forces for Baghdad's security, reducing sectarian violence and ensuring minority rights in its legislature. But it reported unsatisfactory Iraqi progress in legislation to share the nation's oil wealth and in evenhanded law enforcement.

While refusing to "speculate" on the September report to be compiled by Petraeus, the president held out hope.

"The real debate over Iraq is between those who think the fight is lost or not worth the cost and those that believe the fight can be won and that, as difficult as the fight is, the cost of defeat would be far higher," he said. "I believe we can succeed in Iraq and I know we must," Bush said.

Compiled from Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Reuters reports

U.S. troops launch raid in Baghdad

BAGHDAD -- U.S. troops raided a Shiite area of Baghdad on Thursday, capturing two extremists believed tied to Iran and sparking a battle that Iraqi officials said killed 19 people. Two employees of the Reuters news agency were among the dead.

Angry residents of the Amin district -- many of them Shiites who fled to Baghdad from Baqouba, where U.S. troops are waging an offensive -- accused U.S. helicopters of striking buildings during the fight with gunmen and killing civilians.

-- The Associated Press