Bush sees tide turning in Iraq

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President Bush yesterday said his strategy to send more troops to Iraq is turning the tide in favor of U.S. and Iraqi forces and rebutted claims by a top Democrat that the war is lost.

"The direction of the fight is beginning to shift," Mr. Bush said in a speech at East Grand Rapids High School in Michigan. "Day by day, block by block, Iraqi and American forces are making incremental gains in Baghdad."

The president's speech, his second in two days on the war on terrorism, came one day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters, "This war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything."

The speech also came as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who was in Baghdad, warned Iraqi political leaders that American patience is wearing thin.

"Our commitment to Iraq is long-term, but it is not a commitment to have our young men and women patrolling Iraq's streets open-endedly," Mr. Gates said.

On Thursday, Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, cited a series of five suicide bombings on Wednesday that killed more than 200 people as an example of why the war is lost.

Mr. Bush acknowledged the violence and said that since he began sending the first of about 30,000 reinforcements in January, "we have seen some of the highest casualty levels of the war."

"And as the number of troops in Baghdad grows and operations move into even more dangerous neighborhoods, we can expect the pattern to continue," he said.

But the president said coalition forces have reduced by 50 percent the sectarian murders by militias and death squads in Baghdad. He also said coalition troops are getting an increasing number of tips from the civilian population, which have helped them capture weapons, chemicals, and members of death squads and car-bomb rings.

"This is a difficult period in our nation's history," Mr. Bush said. "It's natural to wish there was an easy way out, that we could just pack up and bring our troops home and be safe. Yet in Iraq, the easy road would be a road to disaster.