May 24, 2004 – (Washington) President Bush will try to convince skeptical Americans in a prime-time speech on Monday night that he has a plan to transfer power to Iraqis and restore order to the troubled U.S. occupation.

Spreading violence and a prison abuse scandal in Iraq have pushed the president's approval ratings to new lows and he is eager to show Americans he can turn the situation around with five weeks to go before the scheduled June 30 handover of power by the U.S.-led coalition to an interim Iraqi government.

Despite appeals from worried Republicans, Bush was not expected to announce any major change in course or give a date for a U.S. troop withdrawal.

Instead, he will devote his address at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to efforts being made with the United Nations to put together a caretaker Iraqi government that will take power.

Bush will also emphasize U.S. efforts to train and equip Iraqi security forces to ease the pressure on American troops, and encourage broader international participation through a U.N. Security Council resolution, the text of which is now being circulated.

"I expect the president to talk to the American people about the clear strategy we are pursuing in Iraq and the steps we are taking to achieve our goals," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

With little more than a month to go until June 30, many in Congress believe the administration has raised more questions than it has answered about how long American forces will remain, what the costs will be, and when Iraqi security forces will be ready to take over from U.S. troops.

Republicans said Bush needed to define the endgame for the U.S. effort in Iraq and lay out the steps to get there.

"The American people want to support this president and his efforts but need to be shown the way," said Republican strategist Scott Reed.

Bush practiced the high-stakes address in the White House theater and was using makeup to cover scratches on his face from a mountain biking accident on Saturday at his Texas ranch.

His trip to the campaign battleground state of Pennsylvania comes as his job approval ratings slumped to the worst level of his presidency. They show he faces a real possibility of defeat in the Nov. 2 election.

A new poll by CBS News said 41 percent of those surveyed approved of the job Bush is doing as president, while 52 percent disapprove. Two weeks ago in the same poll, 44 percent approved. A year ago, two-thirds did.

Sixty-one percent of Americans now disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq, while just 34 percent approve, according to the poll.

GLOOMY NUMBERS

No recent president has been re-elected with such low numbers this close to the November elections. But a Gallup Poll gave Harry Truman a 39 percent approval rating in June 1948 and he went on to squeak out a victory over Thomas Dewey.

Bush aides said much of Washington's message has been drowned out in recent weeks by images of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers. The scandal has triggered criminal investigations and congressional hearings and cast a shadow over the U.S. occupation, after a war fought over weapons of mass destruction that have never been found.

Administration officials said Bush's speech, the first in a series leading up to June 30, will

seek to inform Americans that U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has set up the structure of an interim Iraqi government with a president, a prime minister, two vice presidents and 26 government ministers.

Brahimi is expected to announce his choices for the positions in as little as a week.

The goal is for the interim government to hold power until elections for a transitional government are held in January. This would be followed by the writing of an Iraqi constitution and elections for a permanent government later in 2005.

"Our basic point is that this is the real end of the occupation and this is a transfer of sovereignty as the Iraqis wanted. It shows we are standing by our word," said a senior State Department official.