The US President, George W Bush, has outlined his new strategy for Iraq.
In a televised address to the American people, Mr Bush confirmed he was sending more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq to secure Baghdad and Anbar province.
During his speech, he acknowledged that any mistakes made in the country were his own responsibility.
President Bush said there was no magical formula for success, but he was confident the new plan would work.
'The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people, and it is unacceptable to me,' President Bush said in his address.
He announced that he would be sending 17,500 troops to Baghdad and 4,000 to the Sunni Anbar province over the next four months.
He said previous attempts to secure Baghdad failed because 'there were not enough Iraqi and American troops to secure neighbourhoods that had been cleared of terrorists and insurgents' and the troops had too many restrictions.
Democrats, who saw their takeover of the US Congress in November elections as a signal from voters that it was time to start bringing troops home, have called for a 'phased redeployment' of troops to begin in four to six months.
