With his approval rating at an all-time low, US President George W. Bush, in his final State of the Union address Monday night, chose to stay on course in his domestic and foreign policies despite challenges facing his administration.

 

In a State of the Union address which revealed his lack of political clout to push bold and ambitious ideas, Bush urged the Democrats-controlled Congress to quickly approve the 150-billion-US dollar economic stimulus package, as the economy has surpassed Iraq as the top public concern for the Americans.

 

The White House hopes the stimulus package will stave off recession in an economy suffering from high oil prices and a housing slump.

 

However, some Democrats in the Senate have said they want to broaden the bill, including an unemployment benefits expansion, an increase in home heating subsidies or higher food stamp benefits. Bush warned against such proposals, saying that they could derail the whole effort.

 

Some economists have pointed out that the stimulus package may buy time but will not be enough to solve the woes that have roiled global financial market.

 

Moreover, Bush repeated his call to make the tax cuts permanent, and urged Congress to approve US free trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, and support his immigration and Medicare policy. However, the Democrats have appeared to show little interest.

 

On the US foreign policy, Bush signaled that it will remain almost the same, as he touted the gains in Iraq through his surge plan of dispatching some 30,000 more US troops to the country.

 

"While the enemy is still dangerous and more work remains, the American and Iraqi surges have achieved results few of us could have imagined just one year ago," Bush said.

 

Bush also restated his opposition to a hasty US troop withdrawal from Iraq. "Members of Congress: Having come so far, and achieved so much, we must not allow this to happen," Bush told the deeply skeptical Congress.

 

Bush did offer something new in his strategy by declaring a shift of mission for US troops in Iraq.

 

"Our objective in the coming year is to sustain and build on the gains we made in 2007, while transitioning to the next phase of our strategy. American troops are shifting from leading operations to partnering with Iraqi forces and, eventually, to a protective overwatch mission," Bush said.

 

There are over 150,000 US troops now stationed in Iraq.

 

However, according to a January 20-22 survey by the Wall Street Journal, 67 percent of those polled disapprove of Bush's handling of the Iraq issue.

 

Bush's message to Iran was as tough and blunt as ever as he urged the country to suspend uranium enrichment and threatened that the United States will confront Teheran if necessary.

 

"But above all, know this: America will confront those who threaten our troops, we will stand by our allies, and we will defend our vital interests in the Persian Gulf," Bush said.

 

Bush also signaled his willingness to promote the Middle East peace process. "The time has come for a Holy Land where a democratic Israel and a democratic Palestine live side-by-side in peace," he said.

 

Bush visited Israel and the Palestinian territories earlier this month in a bid to promote the peace process that he revived at the international conference in Annapolis, Maryland, in November.

 

Bush also vowed to stay on the offensive on the war against terrorism, just as he had repeatedly stressed in his every previous State of the Union address.

 

However, more than six years after the launching of the war on terrorism, Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, is still at large. The "axis of evil" are still a source of headaches for the Bush administration: Iraq has failed to achieve political reconciliation, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea failed to meet the year-end deadline to declare its nuclear activities, and Iran continues its uranium enrichment despite US pressure.

 

The fragile Middle East peace process has been constantly hit by violence between the Israelis and Palestinians.

 

The scope of Bush's challenge was underscored by a Washington Post-ABC News poll earlier this month, which showed Bush's overall approval rating at 32 percent, the lowest ever, with only 30 percent of the public approving his handling of Iraq. His handling of the economy rated even worse, with 28 percent approval compared with 41 percent a year ago.

 

In sharp contrast to Bush's staying on the course, the Democrats, who have assailed Bush over his handling of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, his refusal to engage diplomatically with Iran and his administration's use of the Guantanamo detention center in Cuba for terrorism suspects, have called for a change of course and restoring US "moral authority" in the world.

 

"Join us, Mr. President, and working together with Congress to make tough, smart decisions; we will regain our standing in the world and protect our people and our interests," Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius said in the Democrats' response to Bush's State of the Union address.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2008)