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Bush To Hold News Conference On Iraq

(CBS/AP) With Iraq dominating the political debate, President Bush scheduled a news conference Wednesday to update the nation on the war. The White House said he would not announce any increase or decrease in troop levels.

It was just two weeks ago that the president had his last formal, solo White House news conference, and he's never had two of them this close together, reports CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller. But with the midterms elections less than two weeks off, and with control of Congress at stake, he wants his message to be heard.

October has been the deadliest month this year for American forces in Iraq. The military Tuesday announced the deaths of two more U.S. Marines, a sailor and a soldier. Since the start of the war, more than 2,800 U.S. service members have died in Iraq. There are currently 144,000 U.S. forces in Iraq.

"Obviously there is a lot going on on the security and political situation in Iraq and it's important that the president also update the American people on the state of the conflict," White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said.

She said Mr. Bush would not announce a change of troop levels. "This is more of a discussion, an explanation" following on the briefings this week by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalizad, the top U.S. envoy in Iraq; Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

On Tuesday, American officials unveiled a timeline for Iraq's Shiite-led government to take specific steps to calm the bloodshed in Baghdad and said more U.S. troops might be needed for the job.

U.S. officials previously said they were satisfied with troop levels and had expected to make significant reductions by year's end. But a surge in sectarian killings, which welled up this past summer, forced them to reconsider.

Casey said that additional U.S. troops could come from inside or outside Iraq to "improve basic services for the population of Baghdad."

"Now, do we need more troops to do that? Maybe. And, as I've said all along, if we do, I will ask for the troops I need, both coalition and Iraqis," Casey said.

The military has expressed disappointment over its two-month drive to cleanse the capital of Sunni insurgents and Shiite militia fighters and death squads. But the Americans also say that for the situation to improve, the Iraqi government must make political concessions to minority Sunnis.