President Bush long asserted that the United States will stay the course in Iraq, but with Democrats winning control of Congress, and this month's election a referendum on his war policy, he is under increasing pressure to veer from that path.

The pressure is coming from both ends of the Capitol and both sides of the partisan aisle. As evidenced by the bid -- albeit unsuccessful -- of Johnstown's John Murtha to become House majority leader, there is support among the new Democratic majority for pulling out U.S. forces. Republicans also recognize a new policy is needed; Virginia's Sen. John Warner said that "the American people have spoken with regard to their deep concern" about the war.

Mr. Bush hears the voices, but it's unclear whether he gets the message. Although he has said that he is looking forward to working with Democrats to "achieve common objectives," after meeting last week with the blue-ribbon, bipartisan Iraq Study Group, the president chided those speaking out on the war, saying "the best military options depend upon the conditions on the ground."

The study group kept a low profile after it was formed by Congress in the spring, but in post-election Washington it is now front and center, viewed as the best hope for offering an acceptable way to phase out American involvement in an orderly transition.

Achieving that goal will take compromise. Although the ouster of Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense is a change in the White House's hard-line approach, Mr. Bush remains skeptical of suggestions that call for greater involvement by Syria and Iran in the process.

This is not the time, however, to be ruling out any options so long as the security of the region, and of the United States, remain paramount concerns.

The Iraq Study Group is co-chaired by James Baker, who was secretary of state for President George H.W. Bush, and by former Rep. Lee Hamilton, a Democrat from Indiana. Such a panel may have the clout to sell recommendations that will chart a middle course between immediate withdrawal and maintaining the status quo.

The very anticipation of the group's report is a clear indicator of how anxious Washington is to find a way out of a war that has frustrated the American people.