WASHINGTON, 2 February 2006 — President George Bush called for ending America’s oil gluttony and for perseverance in Iraq and in the war against terror in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Bush, a former Texas oil industry executive, said the country is “addicted to oil which is often imported from unsavory parts of the world” and should aim to replace more than 75 percent of Middle Eastern oil imports by 2025.

For most of his presidency, Bush has placed top priority on increasing domestic oil and gas production. He has supported tax incentives for oil and gas drilling, aggressive production in the Gulf of Mexico, and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

But in his speech Tuesday night, he said the US should “move beyond a petroleum-based economy.” He listed strategies that included better batteries for hybrid and electric cars, hydrogen cars, ethanol from wood and agricultural waste, solar and wind technologies and “clean, safe nuclear energy.”

Bush’s speech, which came after the roughest political year of his presidency, made clear that he would not listen to those calling for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. He also denounced what he called the perversion of Islam by determined terrorists.

Bush spoke of the spread of democracy throughout the Middle East, and said the war against terrorism involved democratic reform across the region.

He credited Saudi Arabia and Egypt for taking small steps toward democracy, but called on them to redouble their reform efforts. He also acknowledged that free elections can sometimes yield negative results, as evidenced by the victory of Hamas in last week’s Palestinian elections.

His critics seized on this. In an editorial yesterday entitled “Addicted to Oil,” New York Times’ Tom Friedman wrote: “So far the democracy wave the Bush team has helped to unleash in the Arab-Muslim world since 9/11 has brought to power hard-line Islamic fundamentalists in Iraq, Palestine and Iran, and paved the way for a record showing by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. If we keep this up, in a few years Muslim clerics will be in power from Morocco to the border of India. God bless America.”

Bush’s speech was about the central projects of his presidency — the Iraq war and the larger war on terror — and about trying to shore up public support.

“America rejects the false comfort of isolationism,” Bush said. “We are the nation that saved liberty in Europe, and liberated death camps, and helped raise up democracies, and faced down an evil empire. Once again, we accept the call of history to deliver the oppressed and move this world toward peace.”

“We seek the end of tyranny in our world,” Bush said. “Some dismiss that goal as misguided idealism. In reality, the future security of America depends on it.”

On the national front, he laid out a modest agenda of health care and education initiatives, and defended his ordering of secret wiretaps.

Critics say Bush’s speech was also notable for what he did not mention. He offered no new ideas for rebuilding New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, made no mention of his troubled Medicare prescription drug program and offered no proposal to clamp down on lobbying abuses in Congress that have led to the investigation of Jack Abramoff, a formerly powerful lobbyist and former fund-raiser for Bush.

The 52-minute speech was a pivotal moment for Bush as he works to reclaim the political agenda and reverse his slide in public opinion polls, which places him lower than any post-World War II president at the start of his sixth year in office, with the exception of Richard Nixon. Republicans are also hoping to drive the national discussion of issues as a way of holding onto their congressional majority in the 2006 elections.