Bush commits until 2009

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President Bush said yesterday that future administrations will have to grapple with how and when to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, indicating that he doesn't see an end to U.S. commitments until at least 2009.

"That'll be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq," Mr. Bush said at his second press conference of the year, during which he also said Iraq is not in the middle of a civil war and defended his continued commitment of U.S. troops.

"If I didn't believe we could succeed, I wouldn't be there," he said. "I wouldn't put those kids there."

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Mr. Bush was signaling an open-ended commitment that "was never contemplated or approved by the American people."

"President Bush must accept that he has to change course, reject the notion of an open-ended commitment in Iraq, and finally develop the plan that allows our troops to begin to come home," the Nevada Democrat said.

He said the conflict there has turned into a "low-grade civil war," and he and other Democrats have charged that Mr. Bush is out of touch with the reality on the ground there.

But in a press conference dominated by Iraq, Mr. Bush didn't back down as he defended the decision to go to war and the current U.S. policy. However, he did acknowledge that the coalition forces have had to change both their plans for rebuilding and how they went about training Iraqi security forces.

"No question about it; we missed some time as we adjusted our tactics," he said.

The war in Iraq entered its fourth year this week as polls show American voters increasingly skeptical about the chances for success and about Mr. Bush's prosecution of the war.

A Harris poll released last week found that 46 percent of Americans say the situation in Iraq is getting worse for U.S. troops, 10 percent more than in December. The poll also found that 48 percent said invading Iraq was a bad decision, compared with 37 percent who said it was not.