While the speech will be remembered for Bush's "call to stay the course in Iraq and change the course of Social Security," wrote The New York Times, "on both counts, Mr. Bush fudged the most critical points."

Hinging US withdrawal from Iraq on training better Iraqi security forces "is absolutely not enough" without demanding maximum effort from the new government in creating a state "that recognizes the rights and needs of all its citizens," the daily said.

Bush's insistence that it is inappropriate to set a timetable for withdrawal "obscures the very immediate need to set goals, and to make it clear to the Iraqis that the continued presence of American forces depends on their meeting those goals."

The Times branded Bush's speech as "yet another feel-good paean to freedom and democracy that did little to show the American people an exit strategy for United States troops, or to show the Iraqis what we expect from them next."

The daily was also "disheartened" by Bush's "failure to mention development aid to Africa and virtually any other country that is not identified as a prime source of terrorism."

The Washington Post welcomed what it saw as a push for a two-track regional transformation: "confrontation with such hostile authoritarian regimes as Syria and Iran, and gentle prodding of allies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.