Bush: Iraq Troop Level Said Sufficient

President Bush gestures during a rally for the Republican party at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry, Ga.,Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2006. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (Evan Vucci - AP)

Bush credited Rumsfeld with overseeing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while overhauling the military. "I'm pleased with the progress we're making," the president said.

Responding to Bush, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said: "With all due respect, the president just doesn't get it. We need a change in the Iraq strategy, but with Rumsfeld running the show we'll never get it."

Bush said U.S. commanders recommended a troop increase last summer "and I said, 'You bet. I support you.'" He said there's been a lot of speculation about a troop-increase request but that he hasn't received it. He said the generals have told him that "the troop level they got right now is what they can live with."

Bush took the opportunity to take another poke at Sen. John Kerry, in political hot water for a remark that the White House has characterized as a slam on U.S. troops in Iraq. Kerry has said he was making a joke critical of Bush, not the troops, and has apologized.

"It didn't sound like a joke to me," the president said.

Bush opened the interview by saying he was pleased that North Korea was returning to stalled nuclear talks. Although North Korea has a history of walking away from negotiations, Bush did not express doubts about the intentions of Kim Jong Il, North Korea's leader.

"It's his choice," Bush said. "I would hope he is sincere." He said that any deal with North Korea would have to be verifiable.

The president said he did not accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state, even though it tested an atomic bomb three weeks ago. "Our objective is to see they're not a nuclear weapons state," the president said.

"We're going to talk about making sure that the sanctions passed by the United Nations are effective," the president said. "Implementation of the sanctions will be on the table."

As for Iraq, the president expressed confidence in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki despite apparent strains between Washington and Baghdad.

"I appreciate he's making hard decisions that he thinks are necessary to keep his country united and moving forward," Bush said. "I didn't find many differences of opinion when I talked to him. We both want Iraq to be able to govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself. We both want there to be benchmarks _ Iraqi developed and designed benchmarks _ that show the Iraqi people and the American people that this young democracy is making progress."

Bush said that "there's no question that October was a tough month. We lost 103 soldiers. It was a tough month because we were on the offense, the enemy was on the offense _ the enemy was trying to affect us. And it was a tough month because of Ramadan. ... Our troops and Iraqi troops killed or captured over 1,500 people during this period of time."

Bush refused to comment on Cheney's assertion that a "dunk in water" of terrorist suspects was a "no-brainer" if it would save American lives. "We don't discuss the techniques we use," he said.