President Bush appealed directly to the American people last night to support a renewed campaign to pacify Iraq, saying it was necessary to add new troops so that the beleaguered Iraqi government can regain control of the streets of Baghdad and revive the process of political reconciliation and economic rebuilding.

In a nationally televised address from the White House, Bush acknowledged for the first time that he had not sent enough troops to provide security in Iraq last year. Standing in the library of the White House, Bush described the situation in Iraq as "unacceptable" to the American people and to himself. "Our troops in Iraq have fought bravely. They have done everything we have asked them to do," he said. "Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me."

Bush announced a new approach that called for sending 21,500 soldiers and Marines to help the Iraqi government provide security in Baghdad and fight the Sunni insurgency in Anbar province. But he emphasized that Iraqi soldiers will take the lead in the new fighting, and said that the focus of American troops would be advising and supporting the Iraqi forces, with the additional U.S. soldiers embedded in Iraqi units.

In some of his sharpest language to date, he squarely placed the burden for improving conditions on the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has promised but not delivered on an array of reforms and security measures.

"I have made it clear to the Prime Minister and Iraq's other leaders that America's commitment is not open-ended," Bush said last night. "If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people - and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people. Now is the time to act."

Even before the president began speaking, Democrats in Congress were mobilizing against his new plan. Just two months after Republicans lost their majorities in both the Senate and the House in an election widely seen as a repudiation of his policies in Iraq, Bush's speech signaled that he is essentially choosing to deepen the American involvement, gambling that more focused execution and improved tactics will result in success that has so far eluded the United States.

"The most urgent priority for success in Iraq is security, especially in Baghdad," Bush said last night.

"Our past efforts to secure Baghdad failed for two principal reasons," Bush said. "There were not enough Iraqi and American troops to secure neighborhoods that had been cleared of terrorists and insurgents. And there were too many restrictions on the troops we did have. Our military commanders reviewed the new Iraqi plan to ensure that it addressed these mistakes. They report that it does."

Bush made clear that his plan for Iraq goes beyond military measures. A central element of Bush's revised strategy will focus on expanded economic assistance to complement the new security plan for Baghdad.

"A successful strategy for Iraq goes beyond military operations," the president said. "Ordinary Iraqi citizens must see that military operations are accompanied by visible improvements in their neighborhoods and communities."

The United States will allocate more than $1 billion for three programs to create jobs and help reconstruction in neighborhoods, as they are secured by Iraqi and U.S. forces. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have been particularly concerned that any new deployment not happen in an economic and political vacuum.

U.S. officials concede that the previous "clear, hold and build" program cleared areas of militants but failed to either hold or secure them afterward, allowing neighborhoods to fall back under the control of militants.

The United States will also add nine new Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), which are joint Pentagon and State Department programs to help rebuild the country from the bottom up, from schools to local government and political interest groups.

Reflecting the revised strategy's heavy focus on only two areas of the country, six of the PRTs will be in Baghdad and three will be in volatile Anbar province, home to the Sunni insurgency and al-Qaida extremists, the State Department said. Washington will dispatch some 150 new personnel to add to the 250 already manning the PRTs.

The United States will provide $400 million in quick-response funds to address urgent civilian problems, and add $350 million to the Commander's Emergency Response Program that allows local field commanders to have discretionary funds to help improve the lives of Iraqis depending on local problems.

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