WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush cautioned Thursday against showing weakness at a "decisive moment" in Iraq as he and visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi warned of worsening violence there ahead of elections scheduled for January.
The two leaders formed a unified front in the White House Rose Garden as they sought to soothe US worries just six weeks before the November 2 US presidential election while battling critics who have accused them of unrealistic optimism.
"Terrorist violence may well escalate as the January (2005) elections draw near," said Bush, whose credibility on Iraq has drawn fire from Democratic White House hopeful John Kerry but also from some fellow Republicans.
"The terrorists know that events in Iraq are reaching a decisive moment. If elections go forward, democracy in Iraq will put down permanent roots and terrorists will suffer a dramatic defeat," said the president.
At the White House and in a speech to a joint session of the US Congress, Allawi painted a picture of steady progress in Iraq on the political, economic and security fronts and said most Iraqis support the US military presence.
"Your decision to go to war in Iraq was not an easy one, but it was the right one," the prime minister told the assembled lawmakers three months after US forces handed power to his fledgling government. "Thank you, America."
Accused of painting upbeat scenarios not in tune with the violent reality on the ground, Bush insisted: "You can understand it's tough and still be optimistic. You can understand how hard it is, and believe we'll succeed."
"It's hard work in Iraq. Everybody knows that. We see it on our TV," he said. "My message is that we will stay the course and stand with these people so that they become free. It's in our national interest we do so."
"These last few days have been difficult for us Iraqis, for you Americans and for all our allies," Allawi said after a spate of suicide bombings and the beheadings of two US hostages by extremists in Iraq.
But he also insisted that 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces "are completely safe, there are no problems," adding that: "Although this is not what you see in your media, it is a fact."
"If we stop fighting the terrorists in Iraq, they would be free to plot and plan attacks elsewhere, in America and other free nations. To retreat now would betray our mission, our word and our friends," warned Bush.
The president said the senior commander overseeing the roughly 140,000 US troops in Iraq, General John Abizaid, had not asked him to send more troops when they met in the Oval Office earlier in the day.
But "if our commanders on the ground feel it's in the interest of the Iraq citizens to provide more troops, we'll talk about it," said Bush. "If he were to say that, I'd listen to him."
In a thinly veiled attack on Kerry, whom Bush has accused of sending "mixed messages" on Iraq, the two leaders also warned that criticism of the campaign there could embolden terrorists and dishearten US forces.
"You can embolden an enemy by sending mixed messages. You can dispirit the Iraqi people by sending mixed messages. You send the wrong message to our troops by sending mixed messages," said Bush.
"There will be many more setbacks and obstacles to overcome," said Allawi. "But these doubters underestimate our country and they risk fueling the hopes of terrorism."
Bush backed away from saying the CIA was "just guessing" in a gloomy July forecast for Iraq, but again dismissed the US intelligence community's warnings that the country might at best only cling to tenuous stability.
"This is a report that talks about possibilities about what can happen in Iraq, not probabilities. I used an unfortunate word, 'guess.' I should have used, 'estimate," he said.
"The CIA came and said, 'This is a possibility, this is a possibility, and this is a possibility.' But what's important for the American people to hear is reality," said Bush.
"And the reality is right here in the form of the pPrime minister. And he is explaining what is happening on the ground. That's the best report," he said.