Bush defends Iraqi strategy on fundraising tour

Las Vegas: Squeezing in a war speech in between Republican fundraisers, President George W. Bush is making clear that his priority is to keep Iraq secure, not just send troops home. His Iraq update on Thursday is tucked into an agenda of political events across four states.

The president is on a three-day tour with dual purposes: to raise money for Republican candidates and to plug some themes from his modestly aimed State of the Union address.
The theme of the day on Thursday is to address war and the threats to the United States.

Bush's theme on Iraqi is that his military presence there a year ago, however unpopular, did succeed in reducing violence in the country and giving Iraqi politicians room to focus on peace and resolution strategies.

Bush, echoing the theme of his state of the Union address, will tell the nation that it cannot afford to turn it's back on Iraq now. Yet he won't commit to more US troop withdrawals, and may even slow or stop the ones under way to preserve the gains in security.

He will also prod Congress again to permanently extend a law allowing the government more freedom to eavesdrop on suspected terrorists inside the United States.

The Bush administration has strongly indicated that US troops in Iraq will be reduced or stop entirely by the summer.