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Bush comments on Iraq

U.S. President George W, Bush warned yesterday that the bloodshed and violence by Iraqi terrorists will surely escalate as the country moves into the last phase of its transition to democracy over the next three months, beginning with a referendum on a controversial new constitution for the country on October 15. "We can expect they`ll do everything in their power to try to stop the march of freedom," Bush warned during comments in the White House Rose Garden about terrorism.

With President Bush`s approval ratings already the lowest of his presidency, the administration is also facing an increasingly visible antiwar movement at home, from a weekend demonstration of about 100,000 people in Washington to a new "Out of Iraq" congressional caucus. The caucus? 68 members are all Democrats.

To reassure Sunni Iraqis before the vote in two weeks, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad is holding talks daily with Iraqi leaders in a last-ditch effort to work out "refinements" so that Sunnis will be "more comfortable" with the new Iraqi constitution, a senior Bush administration official said. And in a push to boost public support for his Iraq policy, President Bush will give a speech about Iraq on October 6.