Bush to outline Iraq transition
Speech to be first of several before handover
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| | ON CNN TV | Watch coverage of President Bush's speech on Iraq starting at 8 p.m. ET Monday on "Paula Zahn Now."
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 CNN's Dana Bash previews President Bush's speech.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush is expected to outline how the U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq will hand over power to a new Iraqi government when he speaks Monday night at the Army War College.
With polls indicating growing unease with the situation in Iraq, members of Congress urged Bush not to skimp on details.
Bush's 8 p.m. ET speech in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, is expected to run 30 to 35 minutes, the White House said Monday. It is the first of a number of planned presidential addresses on the topic in the weeks leading up to June 30 -- when the coalition will turn over sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government.
Aides said Bush will outline a series of steps leading up to the handover and will discuss the U.S. role beyond that date -- including the command structure for a proposed multinational force in Iraq after an interim government takes power.
"The president will outline the five specific steps we are taking to build a free and democratic Iraq for the Iraqi people," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
"He will talk about the political front, he will talk about the election front. The president will talk about how we are working to eliminate the security threats in Iraq, and he will talk about our efforts to reconstruct Iraq's infrastructure. We are making great progress on that front, but there are still more to do," McClellan said.
Aides said the president's speech is also meant to prepare Americans for continued casualties in Iraq even after the new government takes power. Nearly 140,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq through 2005, and American commanders are expected to retain control of Iraq's security.
Bush has tried to bolster U.S. resolve despite increasing skepticism about his policies in Iraq. Recent polls suggest that support for the war -- and for Bush's re-election -- have sagged amid ongoing combat deaths and the controversy over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by their U.S. captors at the Abu Ghraib prison.
"We face a clear choice going forward," McClellan said. "We can work to build a free, democratic and peaceful Iraq, or we can let the terrorists prevail. But the terrorists will not prevail. When we succeed in Iraq, it will be a decisive blow to the terrorists in the war on terrorism."
The speech comes the same day U.S. diplomats circulated the text of a proposed U.N. resolution that would put an international stamp on the new government and give a one-year mandate to a multinational peacekeeping force. And U.N. envoy Lakdhar Brahimi has been holding talks aimed at establishing that interim government, which will hold power until elections scheduled for January.
Congressional advice
Bush won't identify who will hold positions in that government during his speech, aides said. But, over the weekend, some lawmakers said they will be looking for specifics.
For example, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, told CNN's "Late Edition" on Sunday that Bush needs to provide "hard answers" when he speaks.
"We have gone on now with the sense of 'We will stay the course' for too long," said Feinstein, who voted to authorize Bush to take military action against Iraq. "We need to know precisely what that course is."
Appearing on the same program, Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska, warned that Bush has isolated himself from veteran lawmakers from both parties who could help the administration find a solution to the problem of Iraq.
"What I'm saying is that at a time that's as complicated and dangerous as any time in modern history, today, a president of the United States needs to hear other opinions," Hagel said.
"He must reach out. He must understand a bigger view, a wider-lens view of the world. To essentially hold himself hostage to two or three key advisers and never reach beyond that is very dangerous for a president."
And David Gergen, who has served as an adviser to both Democratic and Republican presidents, said Bush must offer "a clear, credible plan for success."
"I think he does need to break new ground here," Gergen told CNN Monday. "I don't think he can simply repackage rhetoric and repackage 'Stay the course.' "
Bush's former special envoy to the Middle East, retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, said Sunday that staying the course in Iraq is a bad idea when "the course is headed over Niagara Falls."
In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," Zinni -- who served as commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East until 2000 -- said top Pentagon officials "screwed up" by committing too few troops to secure Iraq's borders and stabilize the country after the U.S.-led invasion last year.
"I think it's time to change course a little bit, or at least hold somebody responsible for putting you on this course. Because it's been a failure," he said.
McClellan said the White House disagrees with Zinni's assessment, and noted the former Marine general's opposition to last year's invasion of Iraq was "well known."
"The president looks to the active commanders who are under his command in implementing the strategy we have put forward for success in Iraq," McClellan said.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. role will be to provide a "shield" under which a democracy can take root in Iraq.
"Nobody's guaranteed freedom for the end of time," Hunter, R-California, said Sunday. "But they'll have a good running start at having a free country."
Bush will appear with cuts and scrapes on his chin and nose following a fall from a bicycle over the weekend.(Full story)
CNN's Dana Bash and Elise Labott contributed to this report.
