Bush Says U.S., Iraq Will Come to Terms on Troops.

President Bush said Wednesday he is confident the United States will reach an agreement on the role of U.S. forces in Iraq, calling opposition to a U.S. proposal part of the "noise" of a freer Iraqi society.

Appearing at a news conference here with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bush said that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "appreciates our presence there" and suggested that much of the Iraqi opposition to a status-of-forces agreement is based on inaccurate media reports and misunderstandings. "There's all kinds of noise in their system and our system," Bush said. ". . . I think we'll get the agreement done."

Reginald Dale, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that Bush "has moved towards the Europeans in a number of areas" in his second term. He pointed to U.S. policies on Iran and its nuclear program and the Palestinian-Israeli peace process as examples.

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