President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair last night urged international support for the new Iraqi government but avoided setting a timetable for removing troops.
Meeting at a time when a new Iraqi unity government offers the promise of a way out of an unpopular war that has damaged their standings at home, Mr Bush and Mr Blair were reflective on some of the mistakes that critics say has intensified anti-American sentiment in the Middle East.
At a joint news conference with Mr Blair, after three years of war, Mr Bush was asked what mistake he most regretted.
The Texan said that he regretted saying "bring 'em on" when responding in July 2003 to a question about the Iraqi insurgency.
Mr Bush said the remark was "kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong message" to people.
"I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. 'Wanted, dead or alive'; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted ," he said.
President George W Bush
He also cited the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal as "the biggest mistake that's happened so far, at least from our country's involvement in Iraq. . . . We've been paying for that for a long period of time," he said.
Mr Blair said the effort to rid Iraq's army of members of Saddam Hussein's Baathists could have been done better. "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made. But the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us. And I don't think we should be surprised at that," he said.
The two leaders are under pressure at home to show progress in Iraq so they can start withdrawing their forces. There are now about 132,000 US troops and 8,000 British troops in the chaotic country.
Mr Blair said he believed it was possible to meet new Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's goal of having Iraqi security forces in control of all of Iraq by the end of 2007.
"Listen, I want our troops out - don't get me wrong," said Mr Bush. "But I also understand that it is vital that we do the job, that we complete the mission."
He said he would consult with his military commanders in Iraq about the security situation, as well as with the new Iraqi government about its needs and that any decision would be made based on the conditions on the ground.
Mr Blair said that "Inevitably, over time, we have to transfer responsibility", but for now, he said, "this directly elected Iraqi government has said they want us to stay until the job is done."
Both leaders acknowledged the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 had been divisive, but said it was time to look to the future now that the Iraqis had gone to the polls and freely elected a new government.
"It is our duty, but it is also the duty of the whole international community to get behind this government and support it," Mr Blair said.
In Baghdad, gunmen shot and seriously wounded a senior Defence Ministry official, in what appeared to be part of a campaign to target top figures in Iraq's US-backed administration.