US President George W. Bush tried to reassure Iraq's prime minister on Saturday that midterm election pressure over the unpopular war won't drain US support, the White House said. In a 50-minute videoconference 10 days before the congressional election, Bush urged Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to do what he needed to do.
"Both leaders understand the political pressures going on. But the president told him don't worry about politics in the United States because we are with you, and we are going to be with you," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.
Bush has come under pressure from some US lawmakers calling for his administration to push the Iraqi government to rein in militias and curb growing sectarian violence.
The unpopular war and its rising US death toll has also burdened Bush's Republican Party before the November 7 vote. Ninety-eight Americans have died this month in Iraq, the highest since January 2005. A number of nation-wide polls, including one by Reuters/Zogby released on Thursday, show voters strongly favouring Democratic candidates over Republicans.
Democrats and some Republicans have long been critical of the war and urged immediate changes, including a withdrawal of US troops and the resignation of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Other Republicans have called for more troops to be sent to the region.
"Our Army and Marine Corps have become dangerously over-extended by three years of occupation," Jim Webb, a US Senate candidate in Virginia, said in the weekly Democratic response to Bush's radio address.
Webb, a Vietnam War veteran, also said the United States should engage other countries in the Middle East that have a stake in Iraq. "A Democratic Congress will demand from day one that the President find a real way forward in Iraq," he added.
Bush, while acknowledging he is not satisfied with the war's progress, has said he is not going to change his strategy but will be flexible in trying new tactics. He has said Rumsfeld is doing a good job. The two leaders did not discuss October's death toll, Snow said.
Bush is counting on efforts to build up Iraq's own security force before withdrawing US troops. Al-Maliki has said he could control violence in six months if his military had more weapons and responsibility. A top US general has said it could take 12 or 18 months.