President George W. Bush defended his decision to put off a change in Iraq policy until next month, and at the same time, rejected some recent recommendations that he said would lead to defeat.

After talks with top defense officials at the Pentagon, Bush gave little hint that a big change was imminent in his Iraq war policy that Americans increasingly have doubts about.

“If we lose our nerve, if we’re not steadfast in our determination to help the Iraqi government succeed, we will be handing Iraq over to an enemy that would do us harm,” Bush said.

He defended his decision to put off a speech to announce his new strategy after some Democrats complained that time was of the essence and a new policy needed to be put in place quickly. He did not say when he would give the speech, but aides said it would be in January.

“I’m not going to be rushed into making a difficult decision, a necessary decision to say to our troops: ‘We’re going to give you the tools necessary to succeed and a strategy to succeed,’” Bush said.

One reason for the delay is to give the incoming defense secretary, Robert Gates, an opportunity to provide input on the review of Iraq strategy when he takes over from Donald Rumsfeld on Monday.

In the week since the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group offered recommendations for Iraq, Bush said he had heard some ideas he found unacceptable.

He did not say who provided them, but the Iraq Study Group said U.S. combat troops could be out of Iraq by early 2008 if a major effort was made to embed U.S. trainers into Iraqi forces to improve their capability. Some Democrats, meanwhile, have criticized the Study Group for not setting a specific timeline to get U.S. troops out of Iraq quickly.

“I’ve heard some ideas that would lead to defeat. And I reject those ideas, ideas such as leaving before the job is done; ideas such as not helping this government take the necessary and hard steps to be able to do its job,” Bush said.

He sought to reassure Americans about the mission in Iraq after a series of public opinion polls said Americans believe the United States is losing the war and needs a shift in course. In a rarity, he gave a body count of 5,900 enemy killed or captured by U.S. and Iraqi forces in October, November and early December.