President Bush, in a speech Wednesday, tried to build support for Iraq war strategy while conceding reconstruction proceeds with "fits and starts."

Ron Edmonds / The Associated Press

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WASHINGTON — President Bush on Wednesday reiterated his stay-the-course message on Iraq but uncharacteristically acknowledged that his administration has made mistakes in its handling of the war, which is eroding his support at home.

Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations, Bush noted that Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., has said "mistakes have been made" and a "bigger mistake" would be for U.S. leadership "to lose its will."

"Senator Lieberman is right," Bush said.

The comments came in the second of four Bush speeches planned before Iraqi parliamentary elections are held on Dec. 15.

Later Wednesday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that in terms of describing what those mistakes are, "I don't think you can judge that at this time."

"Historians over time will be able to look back and make judgments about the decisions," McClellan said.

Bush, without using the word "mistakes," recently has discussed changes that were made in Iraq in reaction to unsuccessful initiatives.

Wednesday's speech centered on economic progress and rebuilding in Iraq, though most of it included boilerplate language often repeated by the president.

While not calling them mistakes, Bush noted that, "Like our approach to training Iraqi security forces, our approach to helping Iraqis rebuild has changed and improved."

He said ambitious plans to rebuild major utility facilities have failed.

"We've moved forward with some of those large projects, yet we found our approach was not meeting the priorities of the Iraqi people," he said.

Instead, Bush noted, the administration discovered "the most urgent needs were smaller, localized projects such as sewer lines and city roads."

"And so in consultation with the Iraqi government, we started using more resources to fund smaller, local projects that could deliver rapid, noticeable improvements and offer an alternative to the destructive view of the terrorists," he said.

Bush said poor security in Iraq is mainly to blame for the fact that reconstruction efforts have "not always gone as well as we had hoped."

"Rebuilding a nation devastated by a dictator is a large undertaking," he said. "It's even harder when terrorists are trying to blow up that which the Iraqis are trying to build."

Despite acknowledging failed initiatives, Bush offered a picture of "quiet, steady progress" in rebuilding Iraq. "It doesn't always make the headlines and the evening news," he said. "But it's real and it's important and it is unmistakable to those who see it close up."

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