War in Iraq is winnable: Bush

In a joint APEC conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard in Sydney, he expressed confidence about military advancement in Iraq after a visit two days ago to Anbar province.

8220;The province I saw wasn8217;t lost to the extremists. The place I went had changed dramatically 8211; fundamentally because the local people took a look at what al-Qaeda stands for,8221; he said adding, 8220;We8217;re not interested in death and destruction8221;.

Bush said he would not have committed US troops unless he was convinced the objective was achievable.

Earlier, he defined success in Iraq as having a country that would be able to govern, sustain and defend itself and be responsive to the needs of its people.

8220;He says the security situation is changing so that reconciliation can take place. I met with sheiks that are tired of violence. They are reconciling after decades of tyranny,8221; he said.

Meanwhile, Howard reaffirmed Australian troops would remain in Iraq as long as the coalition government he led remained in power.

But he appeared to leave open the possibility of a change in role for the 900 diggers serving in Iraq, including combat operations from which they have so far been removed.