US President George Bush on Thursday ordered a gradual troop reduction in Iraq, but defied calls for a dramatic change of course telling skeptical Americans the US military role there will stretch beyond his presidency, according to a report on the website of Reuters.Trying to secure more time to allow his strategy to work, Bush - in a televised prime-time address - embraced recommendations by his top commander in Iraq for a limited withdrawal of about 20,000 troops by July, the report added.Bush also made clear his view that the United States would require a major involvement in Iraq for years to come and said the Baghdad government needed "an enduring relationship with America."
