President George W. Bush, facing crumbling Republican support for the Iraq war, demanded in a speech today that the US Congress allow his troop build-up more time to work.
Mr Bush signaled no imminent change in strategy and brushed aside criticism by a growing number of senior Republican lawmakers who have broken ranks with him over the conflict.
Bush, who ordered the deployment of 28,000 additional troops to Iraq since the start of this year, was defiant in the face of a frustrated American public and Congress, pointing out that the final wave of additional troops only arrived last month.
"We just started," Bush told a business group in Cleveland.
He asked that Congress wait for a report due in September from Gen. David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, about the results of the troop increase.
"I believe Congress ought to wait for Gen. Petraeus to come back and give his assessment of the strategy that he's putting in place before they make any decisions," he said. An interim report on Iraq due by July 15 is expected to show mixed results that are likely to fuel further debate on Bush's strategy.
Reflecting Republican impatience for change, Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander pushed a proposal to embrace the Iraq Study Group's recommendation that US troops shift from a combat role and toward training of Iraqi troops.
"The surge by itself in my opinion is not a strategy," Alexander told CNN.
Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, also speaking on CNN, said, "Clearly we're at the crossroads of hope and reality, and now I think we have to address the reality, and that includes the president."
A new USA Today/Gallup poll showed today that more than seven in 10 Americans favour withdrawing nearly all UStroops from Iraq by April.
Sixty-two per cent said sending US troops to Iraq was a mistake, the first time that number has topped 60 per cent in that survey.
"I fully understand how tough it is on our psyche. I fully understand that when you watch the violence on TV every night, people are saying, is it worth it?" Bush said, "First I want to tell you, yes, we can accomplish and win this fight in Iraq."