President George W. Bush will outline what the White House called a "clear strategy" for Iraq on Monday night in a speech aiming to convince Americas he is in command of the situation.
Bush's speech to the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, will be at 8 p.m. EDT (0001 GMT). The White House typically asks the television networks to carry important evening addresses live, but spokesman Trent Duffy said on Friday the White House has not asked the networks to do so.
"The president looks forward on Monday evening to discussing with the American people and with a global audience a clear strategy on how we need to move forward," Duffy told reporters accompanying the president on a trip to Louisiana.
Spreading violence and a prison abuse scandal have pushed the president's approval ratings to new lows and he is eager to show Americans he is on top of the situation with time running out before the scheduled transfer of sovereignty from the US-led coalition to a caretaker Iraqi government.
Bush plans to lay out in more detail the course for the remaining month and a half before the June 30 transition deadline.
Duffy said the speech would touch on several fronts, including security, sovereignty, humanitarian and civil infrastructure, and international diplomacy.
"He realises as most Americans do that we have difficult challenges ahead," the spokesman said.
UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has been working on the framework of the interim government, which is to serve until Iraqi elections can be held.
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