IRAQ - Again Bush Optimism.

Three years after a landmark speech beneath a banner hailing "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq, President Bush on May 1 declared that the war-torn country had finally turned a corner towards establishing security and democracy. But he conceded that there will still be "tough days ahead" in Iraq, saying: "This nation of ours and our coalition partners are going to work with the new leadership [in Baghdad] to strengthen our mutual efforts to achieve success, a victory in this war on terror". In brief remarks delivered on the White House lawn, he said: "We believe this is a turning point for the Iraqi citizens, and it's a new chapter in our partnership".

Bush was flanked by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, both fresh from their surprise visit to Iraq in the previous week. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, also joined the president on the White House lawn.

Bush told reporters: "The secretaries began building this new partnership during their trip. In other words, the Iraqi leaders saw that we are committed to helping them succeed. The Iraqi people need to know that we stand with them". Bush added that "there's going to be more tough days ahead", but said the US government "is more determined than ever to succeed, and we believe we've got partners to help the Iraqi people realize their dreams".

Bush's remarks came on the three-year anniversary of a speech in which the flight suit-clad president, standing on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, pronounced major US combat operations over in Iraq. His remarks, and the now-infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner which accompanied them, have been the subject of much criticism ever since, with thousands of US forces and Iraqi civilians killed in escalating violence over the past three years.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan, at a press briefing on May 1 reaffirmed the White House view that "we are on the way to accomplishing the mission and achieving victory".

The US president had words of praise for Iraq's new prime minister-designate Nuri (Jawad) al-Maliki, who has been under pressure to from a power-sharing government to curb sectarian violence. Bush said: "This new government is going to represent a new start for the Iraqi people. It's a government that understands they've got serious challenges ahead of them". Maliki is a Shi'ite from the same Da'wa faction which is led by outgoing PM Ibrahim al-Ja'fari.

Bush described the new Iraqi leadership team as "optimistic people", saying: "They're full of energy and they're very eager to succeed". Bush reiterated his view that not just the Iraqis but the US stood to benefit from a stable, self-sufficient Iraq, adding: "A new Iraqi government represents a strategic opportunity for America, and the whole world, for that matter. This nation of ours and our coalition partners are going to work with the new leadership to strengthen our mutual efforts to achieve success, a victory in this war on terror".

Rumsfeld, Rice and the new Iraqi leadership covered numerous topics in their Baghdad meetings, including what Bush said: "the need to establish control over the militias and other unauthorized armed groups and enforce the rule of law. We will support them in these efforts to achieve that important objective". He said discussions also addressed "the need to rebuild infrastructure and strengthen their economy".

Opposition Democrats, who consider the premature "Mission Accomplished" sign to be among the administration's most embarrassing gaffes, could not resist needling the president about the administration's missteps in Iraq.

"In honor of today's 'Mission Accomplished' anniversary, allow me to remind the president of some of his 'accomplishments' in Iraq", wrote Representative Rahm Emanuel, a Democratic leader in the US House, wrote in a press release on May 1. "Predicting that the Iraq conflict would take no more than five months, that our troops would be greeted as liberators, that stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction would be found, and that Iraqi oil would finance the reconstruction", said Emanuel, who rattled off more than a dozen additional US setbacks in Iraq. He wrote: "Since the President landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln and declared victory, we've lost 2,260 American lives, and current estimates project costs at 800 billion dollars. Clearly we went to war with the leadership we had, not the one we needed".