WASHINGTON, March 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush marked this week's third anniversary of the Iraq war on Monday by trying once again to convince the Americans that he does have a winning strategy on Iraq.

    Speaking at the City Club of Cleveland, Ohio, Bush cited success in stabilizing an insurgent stronghold in northern Iraq, saying he has confidence in the administration's Iraq strategy and critics should look beyond the images of violence to see clear signs of progress.

    Telling a lengthy story about a recent campaign to get rid of insurgents in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar, he tried to establish the view that the U.S. military success there "gives reason for hope for a free Iraq."

    However, in a covert way, the president admitted the growing doubts on his strategy.

    "I understand how some Americans have had their confidence shaken," Bush said.

    "Others look at the violence they see each night on their television screens and they wonder how I can remain so optimistic about the prospects of success in Iraq. They wonder what I see that they don't."

    But Bush said his strategy did work well in Tal Afar, though it took some time to "understand and adjust to the brutality of the enemy in Iraq."

    "The example of Tal Afar gives me confidence in our strategy," he said.

    Bush was marking this week's third anniversary of the war by making a series of speeches aimed at boosting support for his mission in Iraq, which has drawn increasing public skepticism at home.

    According to a latest Pew Research Center poll, two of three Americans now say the Bush administration is losing ground in preventing civil war in Iraq, up from 48 percent two months ago.

    Representing the comments of the Democrats on the anniversary, Senator Joe Biden, the leading Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, blamed "the dangerous incompetence of this administration" for an "increasingly dismal" outcome in Iraq.

    The Bush administration launched the war against Iraq on March 19, 2003. After three years, Iraq is still in chaos although the United States has lost over 2,300 soldiers and spent over 200 billion U.S. dollars for the war. Enditem