Bush returns from Texas vacation to deal with Iraq, economy

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush returned from a month-long vacation on his Texas ranch, facing mounting criticism over Iraq and the jobless US economic recovery, but promising new efforts to ensure "steady and reliable" power supplies after recent electricity blackouts.

The return to the Oval Office Saturday follows a dramatic escalation of violence in Iraq, where a car bombing killed moderate Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim in the Shiite holy city of Najaf and 82 other people.

Bush has been under fire for failing to adequately plan for post-war reconstruction work in occupied Iraq and provide security to the country following the ouster of President Saddam Hussein.

During Bush's two-and-a-half-year presidency, he said, "3.2 million private- sector jobs that have vanished."

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