Associated Press writer Jennifer Loven files a dispatch from the future: Bush: Bloodshed in Iraq Is ‘Worth It’. (Hat tip: NC.)

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - President Bush on Tuesday appealed for the nation’s patience for “difficult and dangerous” work ahead in Iraq, hoping a backdrop of U.S. troops and a reminder of Iraq’s revived sovereignty would help him reclaim control of an issue that has eroded his popularity.

In an evening address at an Army base that has 9,300 troops in Iraq, Bush was acknowledging the toll of the 27-month-old war. At the same time, he aimed to persuade skeptical Americans that his strategy for victory needed only time — not any changes — to be successful.

“Like most Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Every picture is horrifying and the suffering is real,” Bush said, according to excerpts released ahead of time by the White House. “It is worth it.”

It was a tricky balancing act, believed necessary by White House advisers who have seen persistent insurgent attacks eat into Americans’ support for the war — and for the president — and increase discomfort among even Republicans on Capitol Hill.