President George W Bush urged a rebellious Congress last night to give his new Iraq war plan a chance and insisted it is not too late to shape the outcome.
Bush on the Iraq conflict
Facing defiant lawmakers and the weakest approval ratings of his six years in office, Mr Bush said the best chance for success is to send 21,500 more US troops to Iraq.
In his State of the Union address, he did not back down even as Democrats and his own Republicans work on non-binding congressional resolutions expressing opposition to the plan he announced two weeks ago.
"Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq - and I ask you to give it a chance to work," Mr Bush told the joint session of the US Congress, the first time he faced a House of Representatives and Senate both controlled by Democrats since he took office.
"On this day, at this hour, it is still within our power to shape the outcome of the battle. So let us find our resolve, and turn events toward victory," Mr Bush said.
He also sought to push a domestic agenda against a heavy tide of criticism over Iraq, calling climate change a "serious challenge" he would address by reducing US petrol use by 20 per cent over 10 years and increasing use of alternative fuels.
He also called for expanding health care for Americans, creating a guest-worker program for illegal immigrants and renewing a controversial education law.
President Bush before his State of the Union address
"Like many before us, we can work through our differences, and achieve big things for the American people," he said. In the audience of lawmakers, Cabinet officials, diplomats and Supreme Court justices were as many as 10 potential successors of both political parties jockeying for position to replace him.
With a Washington-Post/ABC News poll on Monday giving Mr Bush a 33 per cent approval rating, the president sought to reassert his relevance and salvage the last two years of his term in which his domestic agenda is likely to be eclipsed by Iraq.
Mr Bush rejected Democratic arguments for pulling US troops out of Baghdad. He said Iraq would be victim of an epic battle between Shia and Sunni extremists and Iraq's government would be overrun if US forces step back before Baghdad is secure.
"Every one of us wishes that this war were over and won," Mr Bush said.
But House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, accused Mr Bush of ignoring public opinion.
"Unfortunately, tonight the president demonstrated he has not listened to Americans' single greatest concern: the war in Iraq," they said.
The energy proposals by Mr Bush, who has frequently been accused by critics of ignoring global warming, fall short of seeking mandatory caps on carbon emissions sought by some Democrats as well as European states.
He would achieve his goal through improved vehicle fuel standards and an increase in production and use of alternative fuels like ethanol.
"It is in our vital interest to diversify America's energy supply - and the way forward is through technology," Mr Bush said.