Special Report: Tension accelerates in Iraq

    WASHINGTON, March 13 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday called on the American public to show patience on the situation in Iraq, where political leaders were struggling to forma unity government amid escalating violence after the bombing of a Shiite mosque last month. 

    "Forming a government will demand negotiation and compromise by the Iraqis; it will require patience on the part of America and her allies," Bush said in a speech at George Washington University.

    The situation in Iraq was still tense, Bush said in the speech, part of a public relations campaign to build support for the war, when the American public became increasingly worried about the situation in Iraq.

    The president was scheduled to make a series of speeches on the occasion of the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, in an effort to convince the American people that he had a strategy for victory in the Middle East country.

    "The Iraqi people made their choice. They looked into the abyss and did not like what they saw," he said.

    The Iraqis, Bush said, had shown by their response over the last two weeks that "they want a future of freedom and peace and they will oppose a violent minority."

    A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released on Monday found 57 percent of Americans believed the Iraq war was a mistake, half believed the war was going badly, and 67 percent said the president did not have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq. Enditem