"'And so the American people are taking a look at Iraq and wondering whether the Iraqis are eventually going to be able to fight off these bombers and killers,' Bush said in perhaps his clearest expression of frustration with Iraqi forces."

"'Now I would call the results mixed in terms of standing up Iraqi units who are willing to fight,' Bush said in a candid assessment. 'There have been some cases where, when the heat got on, they left the battlefield. That's unacceptable. Iraq will never secure itself if they have troops that, when the heat gets on, they leave the battlefield.' What is needed, he said, is a better military command structure."

"He said he understands why Americans have doubts about Iraq's ability. 'They're looking on your TV screen and seeing indiscriminate bombings, where thousands of innocent — or hundreds of innocent Iraqis are getting killed ...' But Bush said those pictures do not reflect that 15 of Iraq's 18 provinces are relatively stable and that small businesses are starting up."