WASHINGTON — With U.S. casualties rising and pressure growing from Republican and Democratic leaders for a change of course in Iraq, President Bush said Friday that he was willing to adjust U.S. "tactics" in Baghdad but did not intend to change his strategy or long-term goals.
"We will stay in Iraq, we will fight in Iraq and we will win in Iraq," Bush told Republican contributors in Washington. "Our goal hasn't changed, but the tactics are constantly adjusting to an enemy which is brutal and violent."
But pressure is mounting among some administration officials and party faithful for a major change in the way Bush is handling the war.
His remarks appeared to signal that he was open to at least a limited change in his approach, and that he was not wedded to a "stay-the-course" doctrine, as critics say. At the same time, Bush pledged to secure victory and said he would not change his administration's strategy or overall goals, even if it shifted tactics.
He spoke at the end of a grim week that saw an American commander acknowledge that U.S. policies aimed at quelling violence in Baghdad had fallen short and on the eve of a White House conference with generals, Cabinet officials and national security advisors.
The developments came as an increasing number of Republicans questioned the wisdom of Bush's policies in Iraq and called for new military and political options, and as expectations grew for a postelection change in direction. By adhering to longer-term goals while allowing for tactical changes, Bush could argue that military shifts did not represent a failure of policies.
In his comments, Bush said his administration's "unchanging" goal was to enable Iraq to govern, defend and sustain itself.
But some administration officials said Friday that in the face of Iraq's deepening troubles, they were weighing major changes in direction and expected a new course -- though not a withdrawal -- to be announced within months.
One senior official said he expected the change to come once a congressionally chartered panel, the Iraq Study Group, makes its recommendations, giving the administration "political cover."
"We're not going to pack up and go home," said the official, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak on the subject. "But the situation is grim, and may even be worse than it looks in the media" because of frequent near-calamities in Iraq that never come to the public's attention.
