President Bush didn’t have his most eloquent outing Tuesday evening at a press conference, but he was firm in his conviction that U.S. troops will remain in Iraq to bring security to that nation. “Sovereignty involves more than a date and a ceremony,” he said. “It requires Iraqis to assume responsibility for their own future.”

It is easy to overlook this larger goal in the tension and tragedies that are reported daily from Iraq. The nation had not been prepared for the length of fighting and the level of death it is now seeing. The message from the beginning of the president’s speech tried to change that. Referring to the militia under Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, he said, “They want to run us out of Iraq and destroy the democratic hopes of the Iraqi people.” He would not allow this, he said, for the first time clarifying that he was not opposed to increasing the number of troops in Iraq.

But these assurances may not have been enough. Commenting yesterday in the Los Angeles Times, conservative William Kristol, who has been a strong supporter of the president’s decision to go to war in Iraq, said, “I was depressed” by the press conference. “I am obviously a supporter of the war, so I don’t need to be convinced. But among people who were doubtful or worried, I don’t think he made arguments that would convince them. He didn’t explain how we are going to win there.”

The president was most forceful on the question of the June 30 deadline for handing over sovereignty, insisting that Iraqi officials will be ready by that time to run the country and highlighting the peril of not keeping that pledge. “Were the coalition to step back from the June 30th pledge, many Iraqis would question our intentions and feel their hopes betrayed. And those in Iraq who trade in hatred and conspiracy theories would find a larger audience and gain a stronger hand.” Mr. Kristol’s point could be seen in a follow-up question, when the president was asked who the United States and its allies will be handing the Iraqi government over to on June 30.

“That’s what Mr. [Lakhdar] Brahimi is doing,” Mr. Bush replied, referring to the U.N. special envoy in Iraq. “He’s figuring out the nature of the entity we’ll be handing sovereignty over [to].” The answer is that it remains to be seen.

The president made several other points of note, including an emphasis on international cooperation, a positive sign, and his understanding of the seriousness of the path he has chosen for the nation. These were not new for him, but they are important to repeat, and the president made sure they stood out.

One lesser point: The press asked the president repeatedly to discuss his “biggest” mistakes and the president fumbled for an answer. His problem was clear enough: Any mistake he admitted to would be the top headline in every newspaper across the country the next day; not to admit to mistakes would look arrogant and out of touch. There certainly are ways to answer such a question gracefully and he may well have considered them with his staff beforehand. But he blanked. Not a terrible thing, but not a confidence-builder either.