WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon and the Bush administration stepped up efforts on Friday to win more time and support among Americans and in Congress for the U.S. military mission in Iraq.

At the same time, Sen. Hillary Clinton lashed out at a Pentagon official who characterized her requests for troop withdrawal planning as aiding enemy "propaganda."

If the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq is reversed before the summer of 2008, the military will risk giving up the security gains it has achieved at a cost of hundreds of American lives over the past six months, the commander of U.S. forces south of Baghdad said Friday.

Maj. Gen. Richard Lynch, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, said in an interview that in his area of responsibility south of Baghdad, it will take many more months to consolidate recent gains.

"It's going to take through (this) summer, into the fall, to defeat the extremists in my battle space, and it's going to take me into next spring and summer to generate this sustained security presence," he said, referring to an Iraqi capability to hold gains made by U.S. forces.

Speaking to White House reporters on Friday, President George W. Bush urged Congress to "give our troops time to carry out our new strategy in Iraq.

"Like all wars, the fight in Iraq has had frustrating setbacks. It has also had important successes. We've seen dramatic turnarounds in places such as Anbar province, which was once thought lost to the enemy."

"These successes demonstrate the gains our troops are making in Iraq, and the importance of giving our military the time they need to give their new strategy a chance to work," Bush said.

"Earlier this year, the Senate seemed to share that view. They confirmed General David Petraeus as commander of our forces without a single dissenting vote. And now, barely a month after his strategy became fully operational, many of those same senators are saying that that strategy has failed," he said.

Clinton Hammers Proaganda Charge

Clinton's criticism of Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman follows his assertion that her requests for Pentagon planning for an Iraq withdrawal reinforced what he called "enemy propaganda."

Clinton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has privately and publicly pushed Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace to begin drafting the plans for what she said will be a complicated withdrawal of troops, trucks and equipment.

Edelman wrote a biting reply to questions Clinton raised in May, urging the Pentagon to start planning now for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

A copy of Edelman's response, dated July 16, was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

"Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia," Edelman wrote.

In a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday, Clinton called Edelman's comments "spurious."

"Rather than offer to brief the congressional oversight committees on this critical issue, Under Secretary Edelman - writing on your behalf - instead claims that congressional oversight emboldens our enemies. Under Secretary Edelman has his priorities backward. Open and honest debate and congressional oversight strengthens our nation and supports our military. His suggestion to the contrary is outrageous and dangerous," she said.

"I renew my request for a briefing, classified if necessary, on current plans for the future withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq or an explanation for the decision not to engage in such planning. I also renew my concern that our troops will be placed in unnecessary danger if the Bush Administration fails to plan for the withdrawal of U.S. Forces. Finally, I request that you describe whether Under Secretary Edelman's letter accurately characterizes your views as Secretary of Defense," she said.

Odierno Eyes November

On Thursday, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno told reporters at the Pentagon via video hookup from Iraq that President George W. Bush's recently completed troop buildup in Baghdad is "making progress" but he said it's going to take "at least until November" to make a good assessment.

He clarified that he did not mean that the official report date was being pushed from September to November. Here's the transcript from that portion of the news conference:

"Q: General, it's Al Pessin from Voice of America. You said it's part of your job to tell the story of the progress that's happening in Iraq, and you've been doing that. And we've had a virtual parade of your division commanders here through the briefing room TV screen doing the same thing, in addition to whatever contacts there are on the Hill.

And yet, you see what's going on in the Congress, particularly with the defections or partial defections of some of the senior Republican senators. And I wanted to ask what you see as the reasons that this message -- "We're making progress and we need more time" -- doesn't seem to be having any impact among people whom you would expect it to impact. What's the reasons for that and what's the impact of that on your battlespace?

And if you could just clarify, you said something earlier about needing more time, and then you referred to September.Were youreferring to needing the time until September or more time beyond September?

ODIERNO: First -- let me take that first part first. What I said was, you know, in order to do a good assessment, I need at least till November to do that assessment.

And if I get -- you know, 45 days from now, Sept. 1, I will have a better -- I was talking about our trends, the fact that our trends were all going in the right direction. If I have 45 more days of looking at those trends, I'll be able to make a bit more accurate assessment -- if it's something that we think is going to continue or something that was just a blip, and that's kind of what I was trying to say when I said that.Of course, obviously, September's the first, and then, I would argue that in order to see if it's a long-term, you would still need a little bit more time, but I was referring to September when I said that.

I can't -- all I can do is tell you what I think is going on. I cannot make anybody listen. I cannot. I mean, I have a lot of confidence in the Iraqis -- in the American people. I have a lot of confidence that people will listen to what we have to say and make their judgments accordingly, and the American people influence their representatives. And we talk to them and they listen. We have congressmen come over here. The best thing is when they come over and we get to show them on the ground what's going on, and that's when they understand it. So I mean, that's what we continue to do. That's all I can do.

And what I tell my soldiers, the great soldiers and Marines that are over here, is that -- stay focused on what you're trying to do. Your tactical successes, when you add them all up together, will add to operational and strategic success and hopefully will buy us the time we need to finish what we believe and to finish and allow the Iraqis to gain control of their government and for us to eventually leave.And that's what we talk about.

So we understand there's political debate back in the United States. That's part of our system. All we can do is communicate and continue to communicate what we think is going on here, and we'll do that. And we'll continue to come out and talk, and that's all we can do. We can -- that's all we can control.

Q: General, just to clarify, you threw November in there. Were you referring to a later report or was that a slip of the tongue?

ODIERNO: No, no. What I was saying is -- again, my remarks were, in 45 days I will have a better idea if the trends are continuing, and that's September. Obviously, we have an assessment we will conduct in September that will provide -- that Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will provide. I was not looking at extending that time frame when they have to report back."

Iraqi Official Doubts Troops

Iraq's national security adviser sounded pessimistic on Friday about the ability of Iraqi troops to take over security in various provinces by year's end.

Mouwaffak al-Rubaie said it's "very difficult to predict a certain time" by which that could happen. He said it depends on how quickly troops are equipped and trained, and what kind of threat they face. But he admits he's not talking about weeks or months. The Iraqi said he's talking about "more than months."

"We had hopes and intentions to take over security in all provinces and command of all army divisions before the end of the year," Mouwaffak al-Rubaie told The Associated Press.

"But there are difficulties and challenges that appeared along the way, in arming, equipping, recruiting and training our armed forces," he said.

The U.S. and Britain had hoped the coalition military surge around Baghdad would give Iraqi leaders the chance to reach power-sharing agreements to establish a long-term peace there. But various factions continue to disagree.