Bush will not change Iraq policy: White House spokesman

Growing U.S. deaths in the Iraq war will not make President George W. Bush reconsider his plans for Iraq, White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters on Wednesday.

"The strategy is to win," Snow said. "As everybody says, correctly, we've got to win. And that comes at a cost."

Snow made the remarks upon the report that 10 American troops had been killed the day before, raising the death toll so far this month to 69 and putting October on track to be the deadliest month for coalition forces in nearly two years.

More than 2,761 U.S. soldiers have been killed since the U.S.- led Iraq war broke out in March 2003.

Criticizing Bush's Iraq policy, some U.S. lawmakers are calling for a new strategy in Iraq.

Bush's Republican Party also fears that the unpopular war may cost them control the U.S. Congress in November elections, and some have recently called for reassessing U.S. strategy in Iraq.

On Monday, Bush called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, saying that he has no plans to pull U.S. forces out of the country and pledged full support for the Iraqi government, the White House said.

Source: Xinhua