Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- A little more than two weeks before the U.S. congressional elections, President George W. Bush said on Friday the escalating violence in Iraq was partly aimed at influencing the midterm elections.

    At a speech to a National Republican Senatorial Committee reception, the president gave two reasons as to why violence was rising in the war-ravaged Iraq.

    One reason, he said, was that U.S. forces were focused on operations to bring security in Baghdad.

    The another reason, according to the president, was that "the terrorists are trying to influence public opinion around the world and right here in the United States."

    Bush insisted that the administration's goal in Iraq was "unchanging" - "a country that can sustain itself ... can govern itself ... can defend itself, and a country which will be an ally in the war against these extremists."

    The tactics, however, were "constantly changing," he said.

    News reports said Bush would consult in the next few days with U.S. generals, including John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, and George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, to see if a change in tactics was necessary to combat the escalating violence in Iraq.

    The Washington Post reported on Friday that growing doubts among U.S. Republican lawmakers about the administration's Iraq strategy, coupled with the prospect of Democratic wins in next month's midterm elections, would soon force the Bush administration to abandon its open-ended commitment to the war.

    Citing lawmakers in both parties, foreign policy experts and others involved in policymaking, the report said senior figures in both parties were coming to the conclusion that the Bush administration would be unable to achieve its goal of a stable, democratic Iraq within a politically feasible time frame.

    About 74 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq in October, and the total death toll for U.S. forces in the country has risen above 2,780.

    With the war in its fourth year and violence in Iraq continuing unabated, Bush faced intense political pressure to change what critics described as a failed Iraq policy.

    On the campaign trail, Democratic candidates were hammering Republican candidates for backing a failed Iraq policy, and Republican defense of the war was growing muted.