Bush vows to adapt Iraq tactics
Little remains of the police station in Amara following the violence
US President George W Bush has said military tactics in Iraq will continue to change to deal with the threat posed by insurgents.
In his weekly radio address, he conceded that attacks had grown during the holy month of Ramadan.
But he said he would not abandon his goal of building a strong democracy and a strong ally in the "war on terror".
Mr Bush also held a video conference with his senior generals in Iraq to discuss the escalating violence there.
Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld were expected to join the talks. No announcement has been made.
Election issue
Mr Bush＇s handling of the Iraq crisis has become a major issue in the elections next month for Congress, and opinion polls are suggesting that Mr Bush＇s Republican party could potentially lose control of the Senate and House of Representatives.
In his address from the White House, Mr Bush said that the last few weeks had been "rough for our troops in Iraq, and for the Iraqi people.
"Our goal in Iraq is clear and unchanging," he said. "Our goal is victory. What is changing are the tactics we use to achieve that goal."
He said the insurgents were fighting a media war and were attempting to drive a wedge between the American people and their government.
And he acknowledged that a two-month-old security operation to stabilise Baghdad had not gone as planned.
In the continuing violence on Saturday:
Four people died and 15 were injured in a suicide bomb attack on a Baghdad bus.
According to the AFP news agency the bus, which was set alight by the blast, was packed with women and children who had been shopping in preparation for the Eid holiday, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The US military said troops killed a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leader in Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad. He was not named.
Clashes have broken out between Shia militants and Iraqi police in the town of Suweira, southeast of Baghdad.
At least three people, including one civilian, are reported dead, and five others injured. The violence is said to have begun when militia loyal to the Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, attacked a police station in the mainly-Shia town, about 50 km (30 miles) from the capital.
Pressure
In the US, leaders of the opposition Democrat Party have sought to put further pressure on Mr Bush by calling for the start of a phased withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by the end of the year.
They also want the president to convene an international conference to support what they call a political settlement in Iraq.
Amid the mounting domestic pressure for a change of strategy in Iraq, Mr Bush was consulting on tactics with Gen John Abizaid, the top US commander in the Middle East, and Gen George Casey, the leader of the US-led coalition in Iraq.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said the meeting was one of a series of regular consultations and had been scheduled "for weeks".
According to the US military, there has been a 22% rise in attacks in Baghdad this month.
With 73 US soldiers killed so far, October is on course to become the deadliest month for US forces in Iraq for two years.
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