"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government. And to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," he told reporters.

Facing his worst poll numbers ever and growing skepticism about his crisis management skills, Bush was to give what aides called a major speech to the nation from battered Louisiana on Thursday to address charges he mishandled Katrina.

He was to lay out his administration's role in the recovery operation as well as the longer-term efforts to rebuild after the hurricane left New Orleans flooded and flattened other parts of Louisiana, as well as areas of Alabama and Mississippi, said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

In a joint public appearance here with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Bush said he was worried about what Katrina revealed about the US ability to respond to another natural disaster or a terrorist attack.

"I want to know what went right and what went wrong. I want to know how to better cooperate with state and local government, to be able to answer that very question that you asked: Are we capable of dealing with a severe attack or another severe storm?" he told reporters.

Bush's comments came after fierce attacks on his administration's response as sluggish and inept, as well as criticisms of his personal leadership after the massive storm ravaged the US Gulf Coast.

Bush built his successful reelection campaign last year on promises that he was better suited to keep Americans safe from catastrophes, such as another attack like the September 11, 2001 terrorist strikes.

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Governor Kathleen Blanco angrily accused the federal government of not moving fast enough to recover bodies of Hurricane Katrina's victims, and said the state would hire the private contractor doing the work to keep the job going.

"No one, it seems, even those at the highest level, seems to be able to break through the bureaucracy ... I'm angry and outraged by this situation," Blanco said as she met with Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu and other statewide elected officials.

She said she had pleaded with federal officials including Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff to issue a contract to Texas-based disaster management company, Kenyon International, which is currently working without a contract after being brought in by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Chertoff assured her a week ago that federal officials had a system of recovery in place, but Kenyon said Monday it would pull out if the contract issue was not resolved, she said. Blanco said Louisiana would hire the company itself.

"In death as in life, our people have deserved better than they have received," she said. "I cannot bear to wait any longer."

Blanco's comments were the latest round of finger-pointing among local, state and federal officials as hurricane victims complain about the slow pace of relief efforts.

Search teams ignored the dead in the days after the hurricane to concentrate on finding survivors. Now the focus of the recovery has switched to those killed, many of whom may never be identified.

Flood waters meanwhile receded swiftly in New Orleans, revealing a landscape of ruined homes, wrecked cars and thick foul-smelling sludge. Military experts had estimated it would take up to three months to drain the city, but now say it should be dry by early October.

Katrina, one of the worst natural disasters in US history, already has a death toll of more than 500, with roughly one million people displaced and damages with a price tag expected to reach in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Monday, the head of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Michael Brown, resigned amid a torrent of criticism leveled in particular at his agency, which has the main task of coordinating disaster relief.

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