WASHINGTON, May 25: US President George W. Bush on Monday vowed to stay in Iraq for as long as it takes to complete the processes of reconstruction and reconciliation.

"There are difficult days ahead and the way forward may sometimes appear chaotic. Yet our coalition is strong. Our efforts are focused and unrelenting and no power of the enemy will stop Iraq's progress," said Mr Bush.

His comments came in a prime-time speech at the US Army War College, Pennsylvania, during which he presented a five-step plan to secure the peace and transfer power in Iraq by the June 30 deadline.

The plan entails handing over authority to a sovereign Iraqi government; helping to establish the stability and security in Iraq that democracy requires; continuing to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure; encouraging more international support; and moving toward free, national elections that will bring forward new leaders empowered by the Iraqi people.

The president's speech came amid continued violence and falling US support for the occupation, and dropping job performance rating for Mr Bush. A Washington Post-NBC News poll, published on Tuesday, showed that as many as 58 per cent of the Americans disapprove of the way President Bush is handling the situation in Iraq.

On the question of whether US forces should stay in Iraq until that country is stabilized, 58 per cent said they favoured staying there, down from 66 per cent last month.

President Bush, however, told Americans the mission would succeed. "Helping construct a stable democracy after decades of dictatorship is a massive undertaking. Yet we have a great advantage.

Whenever people are given a choice in the matter, they prefer lives of freedom to lives of fear." But Mr Bush also warned his nation that the bloodshed in Iraq is not about to stop.

"Completing the five steps to Iraqi elected self-government will not be easy," he said. "There's likely to be more violence before the transfer of sovereignty and after the transfer of sovereignty.

The terrorists and Saddam loyalists would rather see many Iraqis die than have any live in freedom." "But terrorists will not determine the future of Iraq," he added to applause.

The Monday night speech was so far his most extensive explanation of the plans and reasoning behind US policies in Iraq, and came after a meeting on Friday to shore up support among Republican leaders on Capitol Hill.

Within an hour of the speech Senator John Kerry, the likely Democratic Party nominee for president, issued a statement that said the president's efforts at multilateralism have fallen short.

"The president laid out general principles tonight, most of which we've heard before," Mr Kerry said. "What's most important now is to turn these words into action by offering presidential leadership to the nation and to the world."

Mr Bush's speech did not include a timetable for the return home of an estimated 138,000 US troops. The president said he intended to keep deployment at the same level "as long as necessary" after the transfer of civilian power.

The troops would be under US command as part of a multinational force authorized by the United Nations. This exceeded US commanders' estimates that 115,000 troops were necessary at this point in the conflict. Mr Bush said the increase in violence necessitated the deployment of additional troops.