Bush vows surge to fix ‘mistake’

President Bush last night conceded that he made a mistake by failing to increase troops in Iraq last year and committed to boosting more than 21,000 troops, setting up a battle with the congressional Democrats, who vowed to fight the new war strategy.

In rejecting the Iraq Study Group’s call to withdraw most combat troops within 15 months, the president will push the U.S. military presence in Iraq to its highest level in more than a year.

His plan, revealed last night in a prime-time address to the nation, came with no timetable, and senior administration officials said yesterday that the so-called “surge” in troops has no set end.

But the president said the U.S. commitment to help Iraqis secure the war-torn nation is finite. In the 20-minute speech, the president demanded swift action by the fledgling government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has refused to crack down on the Shi’ite militias responsible for the recent spike in sectarian violence.

“I have made it clear to the prime minister and Iraq’s other leaders that America’s commitment is not open-ended. If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people — and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people. Now is the time to act. The prime minister understands this,” he said.

The new strategy will increase U.S. troops in Iraq to about 153,500 at an extra cost of $5.6 billion through the rest of this fiscal year.

The first of five brigades will arrive by Monday; the next, a month later, with the rest coming in monthly increments. The bulk of the “new” troops will be soldiers and Marines already scheduled to go to Iraq, but whose deployments will be extended.

Although he has previously acknowledged making mistakes in Iraq, Mr. Bush yesterday said he was wrong both in his decision-making and in his assumptions.

“Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me,” he said. “The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people — and it is unacceptable to me.”

But by pushing for an escalation, Mr. Bush runs smack into Democrats, the new majority party in Congress, who say they reflect American voters’ desire to begin bringing troops back home.

“This is the third time we are going down this path. Two times this has not worked,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. “Why are they doing this now? That question remains.”

The president called top Democrats and Republicans to the White House hours before yesterday’s speech to brief them. The late hour drew scorn from Democrats, who said that didn’t fit with Mr. Bush’s postelection promise to consult them more.

“The president’s practicing his speech right now,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat. “We had a conversation today that has no impact on what he’s going to say.”

Congress’ four top Democrats — Mrs. Pelosi, Mr. Reid, Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland — issued a joint statement after the speech, saying that the proposal “endangers our national security by placing additional burdens on our already overextended military” and discourages the Iraqi government from taking “the necessary steps to achieve a political resolution to the sectarian problems.”

Some Republican lawmakers said they also are skeptical that a surge in troops can achieve much.

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