Facing public dismay over the war in Iraq, President Bush on Wednesday somberly acknowledged the broad scope of American setbacks and missteps there. But he urged Americans to look beyond the violence on their TV screens and avoid disillusionment over a war he said was being won.
Mr. Bush’s comments, in a news conference at the White House, were a stark indication of concern within the West Wing over eroding support for the war. The violence in Iraq has reached near-record peaks just as voters are considering their final choices for Congress in midterm elections less than two weeks from now, a contest that Mr. Bush has cast in part as a national referendum on the conflict.
While most Republican candidates have sought to turn voters’ attention away from the war, Mr. Bush chose to address it head on, adopting a subdued tone, a new emphasis on tactical flexibility, and directly acknowledging the public’s reservations. News analysis, Page A12.
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Aides to Mr. Bush have acknowledged that the rising violence in Iraq was depressing support for the war. And the bad news was being amplified in Democratic campaign ads declaring the war a failure. In all, Democrats have had 220 ads mentioning Iraq, running them 46,402 times for a cost of at least $41.6 million since January, according to an analysis by the Campaign Media Analysis Group. Republicans have run 48 ads on the Iraq campaign 11,677 times for at least $8.5 million.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/26/world/middleeast/26prexy.html?hp&ex=1161835200&en=6eabba07bfbf4440&ei=5094&partner=homepage