CARLISLE, Pa. -- With public support for his Iraq policies slipping, President Bush flew to the Army War College here last night to outline his strategy for preparing that troubled Mideast nation for a transfer of power.

	Gerald Herbert, Associated Press President Bush delivers his nationally televised address last night at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle. Click photo for larger image. Related articles Analysis: With few details, Bush rhetoric may fall short Read the full text of Bush's speech

Buffeted by negative news in recent weeks, Bush was seeking some positive feedback for his policies, and he got it from the invitation-only, military-oriented audience at the Carlisle Barracks, a longtime fixture in this small central Pennsylvania community.

In the 35-minute address, Bush outlined a five-step procedure that he hopes will return Iraq to a freely elected democracy by the end of 2005.

He said the first step is to hand over power to an interim government in Iraq on June 30. Lakhdar Brahimi of the United Nations is talking to Iraqi officials to determine who will become members of this interim government, and selections are to be made this week, the president said.

The interim national council that will take over the government in July "will have full sovereignty" until transitional national elections are held in 2005.

The second step, once the interim government is in place, is to continue to have U.S. and coalition forces, working with Iraqi police and soldiers, establish security in the country."

"We will establish the stability and security that democracy requires," Bush said. He conceded violence will continue because terrorists and "other enemies of freedom" are trying to intimidate their own people and hope the U.S. loses patience and leaves the country.

But, he said of Iraq: "Beyond the violence a civilized society is emerging."

He said that terrorists are "standing between the Iraqi people and their future as a free nation. We will defend and defeat these enemies." American and coalition troops will remain in Iraq to help and train Iraqi security forces, but that Americans "will not be an occupation power."

He said the U.S. will continue to maintain 138,000 troops in Iraq for "as long as necessary." Plans to scale the troop level back to 115,000 won't be implemented for the foreseeable future.

Bush added, "If they need more troops I will send them." To sustained applause from the military audience, he said, "Our troops are showing exceptional skill and courage."

The third step will be to rebuild the country's shattered infrastructure, including roads, bridges, hospitals, health clinics, electric power grids and schools.

The U.S. is also working to increase Iraq's oil production, which is now up to 2 million barrels a day, he said, producing millions of dollars in revenue to rebuild the economy.The final two steps to renew Iraq will be to seek increased international financial support, plus forgiveness of many loans from foreign banks made to Saddam Hussein, and then to hold "free national elections" in January 2005. He also said there are plans to write of a new Iraqi constitution, to be voted on by Iraq citizens in November 2005.

Lt. Col. John Chicky, a member of the audience, said the president was very candid about the challenges ahead. "This is not an easy job. It is going to take some time," he said.

Col. Quill Ferguson said only time will tell how quickly the U.S. succeeds on the transition government. "We're still seeing all the violence, and five weeks [until June 30] is not a lot of time to have massive change."

Maj. Jeff Allen said Bush laid out the positive changes the U.S. is making to Iraq. "The truth on the ground is 180 degrees different from what they hear every night on the evening news."

Last night's visit here was the first of what are expected to be weekly presidential addresses on the events in Iraq, leading up to the June 30 hand-over of power from U.S. and British occupation forces to an interim Iraqi government.

The president's speech was related to another Iraq move this week: release of a draft United Nations resolution on how a post-occupation Iraqi government would work. Bush wants to have other foreign military forces stay on with the U.S. after June 30.

Responding to concerns voiced over the past few weeks by Iraqis and diplomats from France, Germany, and Russia, U.S. and British officialsm at the U.N. yesterday took pains to include language in the new reoslution showing that June 30 would offer a "new phase" after the current occupation and a complete transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqi people, the Boston Globe reported.

But the draft resolution submitted to members of the Security Council yesterday also would give what some U.N. diplomats described as an "unlimited mandate" for U.S.-led multinational forces to stay in Iraq indefinitely. It set no date for the departure of the multinational force, stating only that the mandate would be reviewed in a year or whenever an elected Iraqi government requests it.

The resolution also leaves key security questions, including who would control prisons in Iraq after June 30 and whether the interim Iraqi government would have the power to veto U.S.-led military operations, to be worked out in discussions in the coming weeks by the interim government -- once such a body is formed, the Globe said.

Clearly, Iraq and military affairs weren't the only things on the mind of the incumbent Republican president. Bush is locked in a tight re-election race with the presumptive Democratic candidate, Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, and mustering greater public support for his foreign policies is an important part of his re-election strategy.

The visit was Bush's third trip to the conservative, heavily Republican "midstate" region already this year. Previously in 2004, he'd visited a high school in suburban Harrisburg and a convention of Pennsylvania municipal officials in Hershey.

Last night's visit was Bush's 28th trip overall to Pennsylvania since he became president in January 2001. Pennsylvania, which Bush failed to win in 2000, is seen as a key swing state this year and both Bush and Kerry are fighting hard for it.

Bush is only the second sitting president to visit the Army installation at Carlisle, although at the time that the first sitting president visited, this place was nothing more than a frontier fort.

That president was George Washington, who came here in 1794 as part of his administration's efforts to put down the Whiskey Rebellion in Western Pennsylvania, when whiskey makers were upset over federal taxation.