Washington - US President George W Bush insisted Wednesday that the United States would prevail in Iraq even as he accepted the stunning resignation of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and conceded defeat for his Republican Party in congressional elections.
The departure of Rumsfeld, a chief architect of the Iraq war, marked a dramatic first step by Bush to reach out to the centre-left Democrats, who won back the US House of Representatives in Tuesday's voting and were within one seat of retaking the Senate.
A humbled Bush acknowledged at a White House news conference that US voters' frustration with the war in Iraq was a key factor in his party's 'thumping' at the polls.
Addressing Iraqis, he said: 'Don't be fearful.' And he warned terrorists against reading the election as a sign of US weakness: 'Do not be joyful. Do not confuse the workings of our democracy with a lack of will,' he said.
Bush admitted he also was 'frustrated' with the war's progress but made plain that he was sticking with his refusal to set a timetable for a US troop pullout and restated his determination to keep fighting in Iraq.
'I'd like our troops to come home too, but I want them to come with victory. And that is a country that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself,' Bush said.
'I can understand Americans saying, 'Come home.' But I don't know if they said: 'Come home and leave behind an Iraq that could end up being a safe haven for al-Qaeda,'' he said.
Democrats and Republicans alike had urged the president to drop Rumsfeld, 74, who for many became the public face of the problems in Iraq.
Letting him go was a rare reversal for Bush, who just last week expressed confidence in the experienced political infighter who has led the Pentagon since Bush became president in 2001.
He tapped Robert Gates, a former CIA director who heads a Texas university, as the next defence secretary.
Bush pledged Wednesday to cooperate with the opposition-controlled Congress on foreign and domestic issues, but made it clear that there would be limits to compromise.
'I'm still going to try to speak plainly about what I think are the important priorities of the country, and winning this war on terror is by far the most important priority,' he said.
Two time zones to the west, the Republicans were projected as losing a Senate race in the traditionally conservative state of Montana, giving the Democrats a one-seat lead in the 100-member chamber with one race undecided.
The remaining contest in the eastern state of Virginia was too close to call Wednesday and could be headed for a recount, delaying a decision on a Senate majority for weeks. Democratic challenger Jim Webb led by one third of a percentage point, or less than 8,000 votes, over Republican Senator George Allen.
Democratic leaders celebrated the House victory and the Senate gains as a mandate for change - topped by finding a way out of Iraq, where nearly 3,000 US soldiers have died in more than three years of war.
California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, poised to become the first female speaker of the House, on Tuesday said the war was on a 'catastrophic path' and has called it a 'grotesque mistake.'
Bush said he called Pelosi Wednesday morning, congratulating her and offering to work with the Democrats in Congress.
Democrats took up to 27 seats from the Republicans in the 435- member House, more than the 15 needed to win a majority, US television networks said, citing projections based on partial returns. An interim count gave the Democrats 228 seats, the Republicans 196 with 11 still to be decided.
Six years into his presidency, Bush now faces at least one opposition-led legislative chamber for his final two years in office.
Under the presidential system, he is commander-in-chief of the US military, wields broad powers to set foreign policy and can veto legislation. But Bush's refusal to set a timetable for a US troop withdrawal from Iraq is certain to come under intense pressure.
Democrats had turned the elections into a referendum on Bush and the war in Iraq, which polls show most Americans believe has gone wrong. Bush's approval ratings have slumped, hovering around 40 per cent.
In pre-election surveys, Americans consistently ranked the war in Iraq as their top concern, even as Bush declared it the 'central front' in the fight against terrorism and said that Democrats would abandon Iraq and make the US less safe.
Corruption and sex scandals in Congress and the government's botched response to Hurricane Katrina, which flooded New Orleans last year, also weighed on Bush and the Republicans.
Democrats have pledged to fight for a fairer economy, do more to break US dependence on foreign oil and heal a politically polarized nation.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
