Bush Optimistic Despite Mixed Report

(CBS/AP)  President Bush offered an optimistic assessment Thursday of a new report that showed the Iraqi government has made satisfactory progress toward fulfilling only eight of eighteen goals for political, military and economic reform.

"Those of us who believe the battle in Iraq can and must be won see the satisfactory performance on several of the security benchmarks as a cause for optimism," Mr. Bush said.

In an interim report required by Congress, the administration accused Syria of fostering a network that supplies as many as 50 to 80 suicide bombers per month for al Qaeda in Iraq. It also said Iran continues to fund extremist groups.

The report said that despite progress on some fronts by the government of Nouri al-Maliki, "the security situation in Iraq remains complex and extremely challenging," the "economic picture is uneven" and political reconciliation is lagging.

At a news conference that coincided with the report's release, Mr. Bush said, "I believe we can succeed in Iraq and I know we must."

In remarks clearly aimed at his critics, he added, "When we start drawing down our forces in Iraq, it will (be) because our military commanders say the conditions on the ground are right, not because pollsters say it'll be good politics."

Mr. Bush acknowledged that there's "war fatigue in America," reports CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller. But he again urged Congress to give U.S. forces in Iraq more time and resources, and to wait for a more extensive assessment of the situation in September.

"The bottom line is that this is a preliminary report and it comes less than a month after the final reinforcements arrived in Iraq," Mr. Bush said.

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PDF: White House Iraq Report

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Mr. Bush was still answering questions at the White House when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., responded. "It is time for the president to listen to the American people and do what is necessary to protect this nation. That means admitting his Iraq policy has failed, working with the Democrats and Republicans in Congress on crafting a new way forward in Iraq, and refocusing our collective efforts on defeating al Qaeda," he said in a statement.

The report warned of "tough fighting" during the summer, as U.S. and Iraqi forces "seek to seize the initiative from early gains and shape conditions of longer-term stabilization."

While Mr. Bush announced last winter he was ordering thousands of additional troops to the war zone, the full complement has only arrived in recent weeks. "The full surge in this respect has only just begun," the report said.

In an evident jab at critics of Mr. Bush's war policies, the report also said progress toward political reconciliation was hampered by "increasing concern among Iraqi political leaders that the United States may not have a long term-commitment to Iraq."

The report was issued in the fifth year of a war that has taken the lives of more than 3,000 U.S. troops, and is costing the United States an estimated $10 billion a month.

In all, it credited the Iraqi government with satisfactory progress on eight benchmarks, unsatisfactory progress on another eight and mixed results on the other two.

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