UNITED STATES President George Bush has asked his top generals to look at a change of tactics in Iraq amid spiralling violence.

Bush is facing mounting pressure at home to pull troops out of the Middle East as the number of US soldiers being killed grows.

His efforts to address the deteriorating security situation come after military commanders admitted earlier this week that attempts to rid the Iraq capital Baghdad of insurgents had failed.

But the US President said ahead of today's meeting with military experts that he would not change overall US strategy in Iraq.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Iraqis should take responsibility for security "sooner rather than later".

The comments come as Republicans fear they could lose Congress at next months elections as polls show American voters are angry at the situation abroad.

Read the full article on Scotsman.com.

Bush admits Iraq is becoming another Vietnam, and for most observers, the US is out of options for exiting the quagmire.

Commentary by Jen Alic for ISN Security Watch (20/10/06)

In an unusually tactful interview with ABC News on Wednesday, US President George W Bush conceded that the current situation in Iraq was reminiscent of the 1968 Tet offensive in Vietnam, and that November US elections would be, more or less, a referendum on the handling of the war in Iraq.

During the interview, Bush refrained from suggesting that his Democrat critics who would like to see a reduction of US troops in Iraq were unpatriotic. Instead, he only questioned their judgment. He talked about upcoming elections and how the situation in Iraq would clearly be the decisive factor. All in all, it was perhaps the best and most sober interview Bush has ever given in terms of public appeal.

U.S. spy satellites detect activity at test site, U.S. media reports

SEOUL, South Korea - The U.N. sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear test are a declaration of war, and the country will "deal merciless blows" if the nation's sovereignty is violated, the North's central government said Tuesday in its first response to the U.N. measures.

The North wants "peace but is not afraid of war," the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The sanctions, passed unanimously Saturday by the U.N. Security Council, ban the sale of major arms to the North and orders the inspection of cargo to and from the country. The U.S.-initiated measure also calls for the freezing of assets of businesses supplying the North's nuclear and ballistic weapons programs.