US President George W Bush has pleaded for more patience with his country's efforts in Iraq, saying success is possible but "will take months, not days or weeks."
The war has stretched longer, with higher costs, than the White House ever predicted. On the fourth anniversary of the day Mr Bush directed the invasion to begin, the president made a televised statement from the White House Roosevelt Room to defend continued US involvement.
He said his plan to send 21,500 additional troops to secure Baghdad and Iraq's troubled Anbar Province "will need more time to take effect." Mr Bush added: "There will be good days and bad days ahead as the security plan unfolds."
He was speaking as a survey revealed only 18 per cent of Iraqis have confidence in US-led forces.
The poll of more than 2,000 people, commissioned by the BBC, ABC News, ARD and USA Today, indicated Iraqis have become less optimistic about the future compared to a similar survey in 2005 when respondents were generally hopeful, the BBC said.
The Iraqi government inspired more confidence than US-led forces, with opinion almost evenly split on whether people had confidence in the US-backed administration headed by Shia Islamist Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
About 86 per cent were concerned about someone in their household being a victim of violence. Iraqis were also disappointed by reconstruction efforts since the invasion, with 67 per cent saying efforts had not been effective.
Anti-war sentiment propelled Democrats into the majority in the US Congress last November and the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war this week was marked by anti-war protests around the United States during the weekend.
US and Iraqi forces launched a major crackdown in Baghdad in mid-February that commanders say has already halved civilian deaths, largely through a reduction in the number of victims of death squad killings blamed on militias.
But al-Qaeda and other militants appear to have stepped up efforts to stage car bombings and other dramatic attacks, including many targeting Iraqi police and security forces.
A police source in Dhuluiya, a town 80 km north of Baghdad in Salahaddin province, said suspected al-Qaeda militants blew up two police stations early today after warning police to leave the town.
Yesterday police found the decapitated and bound bodies of nine policemen in an al-Qaeda stronghold in western Iraq, as US commanders blamed the militant group for chlorine gas bombs that poisoned hundreds in the same province last week.