U.S. President Bush (R) and British Prime Minister Blair speak at a White House press conference Thursday night. (Xinhua/AFP photo)

    BEIJING, May 26 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair made it clear Thursday that only when Iraq was fully able to defend itself would U.S. and British troops be fully withdrawn.

    At a White House press conference Thursday night, both leaders admitted that there had been "setbacks and mis-steps" in the conduct of the war, while hailing the arrival of a new Government in Baghdad as "a new beginning."

    "Not everything since liberation has turned out as the way we had expected or hoped," Bush said.

    "We've learned from our mistakes, adjusted our methods and have built on our successes," he said, adding, "Politics won't make the decision, conditions on the ground will."

    But both insisted that the decision to remove Saddam Hussein had been right, and the task now was to make sure that the new government of Nouri al-Maliki was a success.

    "After three years which have been very, very difficult it is our duty to get behind the government and support it," Blair said.

    The meeting of the two leaders came at a moment when their domestic popularity has hit all time lows over the increasingly unpopular war, with 26 percent approval rating for Blair and low 30s for Bush.

    The United States has about 133,000 troops in Iraq and Britain, its steadiest ally in the three-year-old war, about 8,000. Enditem

(Agencies)