US President George W. Bush and his administration are significantly lowing expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the United States will have to settle for far less progress that originally envisioned during the transition due to end in four months, the Washington Post said yesterday.

The US no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges, the leading newspaper said.

"What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the time-table or what unfolded on the ground," an unidentified senior US official involved in policy since the 2003 invasion of Iraq was quoted as saying.

"We are in a process of absorbing the factors of the situation we're in and shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning," the official said.

The goal now is to ensure a constitution that can be easily amended later so Iraq can grow into a democracy, US officials say.

On security, the Bush administration originally expected the US-led coalition to be welcomed with rice and rosewater, traditional Arab greetings, with only a limited reaction from loyalists of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

The surprising scope of the insurgency and influx of foreign fighters has forced Washington to repeatedly lowed expectations --about the time-frame for quelling the insurgency and creating an effective and cohesive Iraqi force capable of stepping in, the officials said.

At least 1,846 US soldiers were dead in hostile and non-hostileactions in Iraq since 2003.

However, US government officials still emphasize how much they have achieved despite the chaos that followed the invasion and theescalating insurgency.

"Iraqis are taking control of their country, building a free nation that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself. And we're helping Iraqis succeed," President Bush said on Saturdayin his radio address.