Bush warns that gains in Iraq fragile and reversible

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - President George W. Bush warned on Tuesday that security gains in Iraq were "fragile" and "reversible" as he appealed to skeptical Americans for patience nearly five years after the U.S.-led invasion.

Bush's comment came amid a new outbreak of deadly attacks that have underlined the stark challenges the United States still faces in the unpopular war in Iraq despite an overall drop in violence over the past year.

In a speech to religious broadcasters sprinkled with references to faith and occasionally interrupted by shouts of "amen" from the audience, Bush delivered a mostly upbeat assessment of a troop buildup he ordered in early 2007.

"I strongly believe the surge is working and so do the Iraqis," Bush said at the Opryland country music complex.

But he also tempered his words. "The gains in Iraq are tenuous, they're reversible and they're fragile, and there's much more work to be done," he said.

It was the first in a series of Bush speeches focused on the "way forward" in Iraq in the lead-up to the next status report that Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker will give to Congress in early April.

Bush spoke a little more than a week before the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, which polls show most Americans believe was a mistake.

Violence across Iraq has dropped 60 percent since 30,000 extra U.S. troops became fully deployed in June and Sunni tribal leaders decided to turn on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.

But a recent spate of attacks shows that Iraq is far from safe. At least 46 people were killed in violence across Iraq on Tuesday, security officials said.

A roadside bomb killed three U.S. soldiers and an interpreter northeast of Baghdad on Monday, the same day a suicide bomber killed five U.S. soldiers in the capital. Total U.S. military deaths are approaching 4,000.

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Addressing a friendly, conservative audience, Bush voiced optimism for further security gains but gave no indication how that might affect the timing of future troop withdrawals.

With less than a year left in office, Bush reiterated that any decision on bringing more troops home would depend on recommendations from commanders on the ground.

The U.S. military is on track to complete the withdrawal of about 20,000 troops by July, leaving about 140,000 in Iraq, as ordered by Bush in September.

Petraeus will testify before Congress on April 8-9 on conditions in Iraq, and a senior administration official said he would likely urge a pause of four to six weeks before deciding whether more troops should be sent home.

Though the specter of recession has supplanted Iraq as Americans' top concern, Bush's latest effort to defend his war policy could signal concern he will face growing pressure for further troop cuts as the 2008 presidential campaign heats up.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, who won Bush's endorsement last week after winning enough state primaries to clinch the Republican nomination, has been a staunch supporter of the "surge" of forces.

Some analysts say that could cost McCain votes against the eventual Democratic standard-bearer, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Both want a timetable for early troop withdrawal.

Critics have said the Iraq war has distracted the Bush administration from what they consider a more important fight against Islamic extremism in Afghanistan.

With the Taliban resurgent, Bush also used Tuesday's speech to keep up pressure on reluctant NATO allies to commit more troops to share the burden of combat there, a message he intends to bring to a NATO summit in Bucharest in early April.

"I will also ask NATO to join the United States in doing even more," he said.

(Editing by Jackie Frank)