Bush asks time for Iraq, lashes Congress

By Caren Bohan and Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush and his generals appealed on Friday for more time to allow his troop increase to work in Iraq, but a U.S. Senate ally said September was still pivotal for evaluating the strategy.

Bush criticized Congress for preparing to leave for an August break without passing a defense policy bill that, among other things, would provide for a pay raise for military personnel and more equipment for the war.

"I also ask Congress to give our troops time to carry out our new strategy in Iraq," Bush said at an appearance with veterans and military families at the White House.

Bush spoke a day after Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, said while a widely anticipated report in September will indicate how the troop increase is progressing, a fuller assessment would take until November.

The report due on Sept. 15 from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is considered central to the debate in Congress over whether to force a troop drawdown in Iraq.

Bush has been trying to buy extra time for the troop increase he ordered in January, even though his own Republican Party has grown restive over the unpopular war.

He and his aides have acknowledged the September report would be significant, but also have tried to play it down as a progress report.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican and close Bush ally, said the September report is crucial.