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Bush to deliver Iraq speech Sunday
Larry King leads CNN's live coverage as President Bush addresses the nation from the Oval Office, 9 p.m. ET. RELATEDYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSWASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Sunday will give his first speech from the Oval Office since March 2003, when he first announced the war in Iraq, the White House said Friday. In what a senior administration official called "symmetry," Sunday's speech will also focus on Iraq. "That was a key moment, and now, three elections later, we're at another key moment," the official said. The speech will begin at 9 p.m. ET and is scheduled to last about 20 minutes. Bush will cap four recent speeches he has delivered on Iraq as part of the White House effort to bolster support for the war effort, a senior official said. (Transcript from last speech) The speech comes just days after millions of Iraqis cast ballots in Thursday's election for a four-year parliament -- an endeavor that, so far, has been hailed as a success by Iraqis, Americans and international observers. Bush told PBS' "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" that he was pleased by the news of high Sunni turnout in the election "because part of our strategy is to encourage a political process that will marginalize those who want to use violence to achieve ends." The speech also comes after a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released this week that indicated most Americans don't believe Bush has a plan that will achieve victory in Iraq. (Full story) Fifty-eight percent of those polled said Bush doesn't have a clear plan on Iraq, compared to 38 percent who said Bush does have a plan for victory. On March 19, 2003, Bush announced from the Oval Office that the war in Iraq had begun and he predicted it would be "a broad and concerted campaign." "We come to Iraq with respect for its citizens, for their great civilization and for the religious faiths they practice. We have no ambition in Iraq, except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people," Bush said in the 2003 speech. 
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