UNITED STATES:PRESIDENT GEORGE Bush, poised to roll out the final battle plan of the war that will be his legacy, yesterday confronted the growing human cost to America of its engagement in Iraq as the US death toll rose to 4,000.
The figure, acknowledged by the White House as a "sober moment", could refocus attention on the human cost of the conflict at a time when Americans had been distracted by concerns about the economy and the early stages of the presidential election contest.
Officials indicated yesterday that Bush is expected to order a pause in troop withdrawals from Iraq, maintaining the US military presence in Iraq at 140,000 troops at least until next autumn.
The news came on a day when the US reached the tragic new threshold of violence in the war.
The US military revealed that four soldiers were killed when a bomb hit their vehicle in Baghdad on Sunday night.
Their deaths came on a day when more than 60 Iraqis were killed and dozens injured in attacks in and around Baghdad.
The White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters that the losses were weighing on Mr Bush. "President Bush believes that every life is precious, and he spends time every day thinking about those who've lost their lives on the battlefield," she said.
"The president has said the hardest thing a commander-in-chief will do is send young men and women into combat."
The presidential decision to order a pause in withdrawals all but ensures that the next occupant of the White House - whether Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, or John McCain - will inherit a scenario in Iraq requiring a commitment of approximately 140,000 troops, with no exit plan in sight.
The White House ordered what was described as a temporary "surge" in US troops in Iraq early last year, sending 28,500 additional troops into the war zone. There are currently some 158,000 US troops in Iraq.
The change in strategy, which saw a peak of 170,000 soldiers in Iraq in the summer of last year, did reduce the violence.
US commanders said that by the autumn of 2007, the number of daily attacks fell by 60 per cent.
However, the surge also led to the deadliest year for US troops since the invasion.
Some 901 troops were killed in 2007, as the US commanders maintained a continuous presence on the ground in Iraqi neighbourhoods and entered into alliances with Sunni tribal chieftains.
In recent times, there have also been signs that the alliances with tribal leaders are beginning to unravel, and suicide bombings have risen.
Gen David Petraeus, the commander of US forces in Iraq, wants to keep the increased troop levels through the summer, on the grounds that commanders need time to gauge whether the gains of the last year can be maintained without the additional troops.
"There is no question that there has been significant progress in the security arena, but we see daily examples of the fact that al-Qaeda and other insurgent groups and militia criminals also remain very, very dangerous," Gen Petraeus said earlier this month.
For Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the decision to maintain current force levels complicates their campaign promises to begin withdrawing combat forces from Iraq within the first months of a presidency, leaving only a rump force to combat al-Qaeda.
It could also strengthen the hand of John McCain, who has positioned himself as one of the earliest and most forceful advocates of the current "surge" strategy.
On the eve of the invasion, Mr McCain repeatedly warned that Saddam posed a threat to the US, telling Congress in October 2002: "He has developed stocks of germs and toxins in sufficient quantities to kill the entire population of the earth multiple times." But in this election season, Mr McCain has declared himself a critic of the war.Despite the growing unpopularity of the war and of Mr Bush - whose approval ratings languish at around 30 per cent - support for the "surge" could put Mr McCain in sync with middle America.
Although 60 per cent of Americans now believe Mr Bush should never have gone to war, five years after the US invasion, they are at least persuaded that the current strategy is working.
A CBS television poll last week showed that 43 per cent believed the war was going fairly well, up from 22 per cent last June.
- (Guardian service)