Will big gamble work?

WASHINGTON — President Bush's announcement that he is sending more troops to Iraq sets up the first major test of wills between his Republican administration and the new Democratic-controlled Congress. Both sides are digging in.

The political stakes raised by Bush's prime-time television address, called a "New Way Forward" in Iraq, were high on both sides.

Democrats, who came to power in midterm elections two months ago in large part because of growing public opposition to the war, must walk a fine line between criticizing Bush's plans and appearing to be obstructionists or undermining the military.

And they presently rule Congress with insufficient numbers to block Bush's plan.

For Bush, the decision to send more troops to Iraq — rather than begin a withdrawal of combat forces as recommended last month by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group — is a huge gamble.

If it fails, he will have few if any options left.

Defying public opinion polls and the newly empowered Democratic leadership, Bush on Wednesday moved to send 21,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq while saying it was a mistake not to have had more forces there previously.

"Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me," Bush said.

He added, "Our past efforts to secure Baghdad failed for two principal reasons: There were not enough Iraqi and American troops to secure neighborhoods that had been cleared of terrorists and insurgents. And there were too many restrictions on the troops we did have."

American commanders have reviewed the Iraqi plan "to ensure that it addressed these mistakes," Bush said.

After nearly four years of bloody combat, the speech was perhaps Bush's last credible chance to try to present a winning strategy in Iraq and persuade Americans to change their minds about the unpopular war, which has cost the lives of more than 3,000 members of the U.S. military as well as more than $400 billion.

As Bush spoke for 20 minutes from the unusual setting of the White House library, the sounds of protesters amassed outside the compound's gates occasionally filtered through.

He recognized the risks ahead. "Even if our new strategy works exactly as planned, deadly acts of violence will continue and we must expect more Iraqi and American casualties," Bush said in Wednesday's address to the nation. But, he added, "to step back now would force a collapse of the Iraqi government, tear that country apart and result in mass killings on an unimaginable scale."