Bush hopes to open new Iraq chapter in 2006

Bush and his Iraq policies are still plagued by a tough insurgency that has shown few signs of weakening.

The last 12 months have brought notable progress for the US in Iraq: January's provisional voting, October's new constitution and December's elections.

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Yet President George W Bush and his Iraq policies are still plagued by a tough insurgency that has shown few signs of weakening, along with mounting domestic opposition to the war.

With the elections this month to set up a new parliament in Iraq and the continued build up of Iraqi security forces, Bush is hopeful that 2006 could be a watershed year and mark a recovery from his bleakest year since taking office.

Bush has still been pressured to answer questions about the faulty intelligence that served as his chief justification for sending US forces to Iraq. For the first time since the March 2003 invasion, polls showed Americans no longer had faith in his approach to the conflict.

Bush's job approval ratings plunged to the lowest levels of his five-year presidency, and opposition Democrats, who in prior years had been cautious to attack a president at war, smelt blood and stepped up their criticism.

Bush's problems deepened over the slow federal response to Hurricane Katrina and an indictment of a top White House aide over the public disclosure of a covert CIA operative.

2005 was the first year that the president could point to tangible progress in Iraq, beginning with relatively peaceful elections in January to set up a provisional legislature, the approval of a constitution in October and then the December 15 elections for a new parliament.

Before leaving the White House for the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland to celebrate the year-end holidays, Bush reflected on the historic elections in Iraq.

"We had three sets of elections in Iraq, which were an amazing moment in the history of liberty," he said.

Bush's comments came after weeks of speeches aimed at rebuilding support in public opinion - polls show he won back some disillusioned Americans.

In those addresses, Bush made rare concessions that his administration had not fully grasped the challenge it would face in rebuilding Iraq.

"We have learned from our experiences and fixed what has not worked," he told reporters.

After Bush's late-year public campaign on Iraq and the elections, several polls gave the president a modest boost in his job approval ratings.

The real good news for Bush was the high turnout in Iraq's Sunni Arab areas that have been the core of the insurgency.

The White House believes that Sunnis' peaceful participation could persuade some militants to lay down their arms and join the political process.

With political pressure mounting and the US death toll in Iraq topping 2,100 -- along with the apparent success of the elections and retooling and build-up of Iraqi forces -- the US has announced a reduction of US forces in Iraq.

There are currently 1,60,000 US troops in the country, but the Pentagon had already said that number would come down with the withdrawal of extra forces kept in place to secure the elections.

Bush and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have been careful to say that withdrawals would be based on the military situation -- not domestic political factors -- and have tied it to the progress in rebuilding Iraqi security forces, a goal both men say is on track after some initial struggles.

But there are still challenges.

The parliamentary elections brought out parties and alliances with sharply differing views on the role Islam should play in government and the relationship between central authorities and the regions. Negotiations to set up a national government could be very contentious.

The biggest challenge, however, remains in squashing the insurgency. That's why Sunni Arab participation was so important, US officials said.

"The terrorists are not going away after this election. The terrorists recognise how high the stakes are in Iraq," said Bush's spokesman Scott McClellan.

"They recognise that a free Iraq will be a devastating blow to their ambitions, and that's why it's so important that we succeed in Iraq."