Leader of the Democratic majority in the US Congress, Harry Reid, has said the US has lost the Iraq war, and Bush's troop surge has failed.

"I believe ... that this war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything, as is shown by the extreme violence in Iraq this week," Reid stated.

The same comments were made to President Bush when he had convened with senior lawmakers to persuade them to pass the emergency war funding bill.

Congress is trying to confine the war spending bill to a timetable for the removal of troops from Iraq.

Reid's comments came a day after 200 fatalities were reported in bombings in Iraq, despite a much touted US Security Plan which the White House said sought to root out insurgency.

HKT /DB