Washington: US President George W Bush rejected critics calling for a timetable for withdrawing US troops from Iraq on Saturday, vowing ?we will stay in the fight? until victory.
Bush's remarks amounted to a response to a hawkish Democrat, Pennsylvania Rep John Murtha, who urged the administration to pull out US forces as soon as it could be done safely, estimating it would take about six months.
In excerpts of a speech he was to deliver to US troops at Osan Air Base in South Korea, Bush quoted a top US commander in Iraq, Major General William Webster, who said setting a deadline for withdrawal would be ?a recipe for disaster.?
"As long as I am the commander-in-chief, our strategy in Iraq will be driven by the sober judgment of our military commanders on the ground. We will stay in the fight until we have achieved the victory our brave troops have fought and bled for," he said.
After attending the final session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Bush was to speak in Osan then fly to Beijing for talks on Sunday with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
He is on a weeklong, four-nation Asia trip that started in Japan and ends on Monday in Mongolia.
Throughout the trip he and his aides have fought a rear-guard action trying to deflect criticism from Democrats about the war and whether the administration manipulated intelligence to justify it.
In Beijing, Bush will attend Sunday church services to show he believes China should allow religious freedoms and urge Hu to take steps to open up markets.
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Bush meets Indonesian President
Before attending the APEC sessions, Bush met Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The crossfire between Bush and Democrats over the Iraq war has grown increasingly bitter in recent days with the White House likening one Democrat to Bush's arch-critic, liberal moviemaker Michael Moore.
But officials said that Bush in his speech would steer clear of responding to Democrats who have accused him and others in his administration of hyping intelligence to justify the Iraq war.
Some Democrats and some Republicans have been demanding Bush to set a timetable for a withdrawal, such as six months to a year.
"In Washington there are some who say that the sacrifice is too great, and they urge us to set a date for withdrawal before we have completed our mission," Bush said.
Democrats say Bush lacks a clear plan for victory in a war that has cost more than 2,000 American lives.
"It is baffling that he is endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic Party," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
Presidential counselor Dan Bartlett defended the attack on Murtha by saying even some Democrats appeared uncomfortable with his position.
"He has come to a conclusion that puts him at the extreme side of his party that is fairly vocally represented by the likes of Michael Moore," he said.
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