EAST GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. — President Bush said Friday that his revised military strategy was taking hold in Iraq and "the direction of the fight is beginning to shift," even as he acknowledged "horrific" bombings that killed more than 200 people in Baghdad this week.
"So far, the operation is meeting expectations," Bush said of the boost in U.S. troops he ordered and the new focus on improving security in Baghdad neighborhoods.
The president said the number of sectarian attacks in the capital had declined by half since the stepped-up efforts began.
But Bush also said, "We have seen some of the highest casualty levels of the war."
And he cautioned that as more troops arrive to conduct more military maneuvers, "we can expect the pattern to continue."
In taking note of the deadly Baghdad bombings on Wednesday, Bush suggested a link between the violence and Al Qaeda terrorists.
While conceding there was no specific intelligence tying the bombings to Al Qaeda, he said, "the men who attacked Iraqis ... swear allegiance to the same network" that assaulted the United States on 9/11."
"This was hardly a random act of murder," Bush said of the explosions in Baghdad. "It has all the hallmarks of an Al Qaeda attack. The terrorists bombed ... at rush hour with a specific intent to kill as many people as possible."
His remarks echoed controversial assertions he made during the walk-up to the war in Iraq more than four years ago, when Bush and his aides spoke of ties between the government of dictator Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda.
Bush has since said there was no evidence of such connections.
Bush's speech was his second sustained effort in two days to rebuild flagging support for the war by making his case in Republican communities where he has found friendly audiences.
On Thursday, he spoke in Tipp City, Ohio, a small town represented in Congress by House Minority Leader John A. Boehner.
On Friday, the president spoke at East Grand Rapids High School to an audience of about 500 people; most were members of the Western Michigan World Affairs Council, an organization that promotes discussion of foreign policy.
Nearby Grand Rapids was the hometown of the late President Ford, and Bush's host pointed out that East Grand Rapids was the home of the late Sen. Arthur Vandenberg, a Republican who fought isolationism and promoted bipartisanship in American foreign policy in the mid-20th century.
