Legacy-conscious Bush touts Iraq deals

President Bush on Saturday continued to burnish his legacy, using his weekly radio address to hail two agreements reached this week with Iraq that he said are important steps toward winning the six-year war.

Bush chose to highlight Iraq even though the economy is front and center in Washington. The address came one day after a government report found employers cut 533,000 jobs from their payrolls. That’s the highest number of jobs cut on a monthly basis since 1974.

{mosads}He also did not mention efforts to help struggling U.S. carmakers, even though his administraion is working on a deal with congressional Democrats to aid Detroit that could receive a vote next week.

Instead, Bush focused on Iraq, which will likely define his eight-year presidency.

“The war in Iraq is not yet over — but thanks to these agreements and the courage of our men and women in Iraq, it is decisively on its way to being won,” Bush said in the address.

Bush praised an agreement setting a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, as well as a second Strategic Framework Agreement that will promote trade and investment between the U.S. and Iraq.

With just more than a month left in office, Bush and his administration increasingly seem focused on building the president’s legacy. Bush has given two recent interviews on his presidency, and told ABC’s Charlie Gibson he regretted faulty intelligence on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program, which led to the war. Bush declined to say whether he would have acted differently with better intelligence.

White House press secretary Dana Perino this week acknowledged the administration is looking to tout the Bush years. “We have looked to opportunities for the president to be able to talk about some of his legacy items, some things that he will be remembered for,” Perino said this week, as reported by The Washington Post.

Bush remains deeply unpopular. In Gallup’s polling this week, his favorability rating stood at 29 percent, and the Bush presidency was widely seen as hurting the GOP in the 2008 presidential and congressional elections.

Still, Gallup noted this week that lame-duck presidents generally see their approval ratings rise in their last days in the White House. Bush has already jumped in Gallup’s polling; his approval rating has bumped up to 29 percent from 25 percent in the days before election day, when Democrat Barack Obama beat Republican John McCain to become his successor.

In the radio address, Bush specifically praised the signing of the Status of Forces Agreement, which sets a timeline for the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq. Under the agreement, American combat forces will leave the country by the end of 2011. U.S. forces will start leaving Iraqi cities and towns starting in June 2009.

The agreement, Bush said, was possible because of the reduction in violence that the president attributed to “the success of the surge.”

Bush also highlighted the Strategic Framework Agreement. “Under this agreement, we will work together to bring greater stability to Iraq and the region.  We’ll promote trade and investment between our nations.  And we will support Iraq’s leaders and their citizens as they strengthen their democratic institutions.”

Bush said the agreement, “will solidify Iraq’s democratic gains, affirm its sovereignty, and put its relations with the United States on a strong and steady footing.”