Bush Sees Progress in Iraq

"If the Iraqis don't have the will to succeed," Bush said at a news conference after a quick trip to Baghdad, "they're not going to succeed." (By Chip Somodevilla -- Getty Images)

The death of Zarqawi is a major boon for efforts to unravel his network, and seizing opportunities created by his demise is a question figuring prominently in Pentagon reevaluations of U.S. strategy in Iraq, according to defense officials.

Still looming large, however, are the long-standing problems of the homegrown Iraqi insurgency, the threat of sectarian violence and the reliability of Iraqi security forces -- all of which are likely to be more important in driving U.S. military strategy in Iraq and the eventual drawdown of the 130,000 U.S. troops.

Sectarian attacks rose dramatically after the bombing of a Shiite mosque in Samarra in February, which pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war. Since February, an average of nearly 1,100 Iraqi civilians and 175 Iraqi and police and military and police members have been killed each month, according to the Iraqi government and Iraq Body Count, an independent group. The Pentagon has reported that at least 250 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since February, and the overall U.S. death toll is approaching 2,500.

Another major concern is that some of the fast-growing Iraqi security forces -- particularly police -- may be perpetrating sectarian violence, officials said.

"How much responsibility can you give to Iraqi security forces when they are susceptible to sectarian agendas?" a defense official said. "Our plan has been to build up the Iraqi security forces to handle it themselves, and it becomes paradoxical and counterproductive if they pursue sectarian agendas," he said.

These factors apparently have left many Iraqis discouraged, and hostile to U.S. forces. A March poll by the International Republican Institute found that only 30 percent of Iraqis felt their country was "headed in the right direction." In March 2004, 51 percent of Iraqis agreed with that assertion. Meanwhile, 76 percent of Iraqis called security conditions in the country "poor." In addition, a January survey by World Public Opinion found that 47 percent of Iraqis approved of attacks on U.S.-led forces.

In his remarks, Bush said he was confident that the elected government in Iraq was up to the task before it. He added that U.S. troops will remain by the government's side as long as is necessary to achieve the mission, despite growing calls for him to set a date certain to withdraw troops.

"One message that I will continue to send to the enemy is, don't count on us leaving before the [mission] is complete," Bush said. "Don't bet on it; don't bet on American politics forcing my hand, because it's not going to happen."

Staff writer Ann Scott Tyson contributed to this report.