Bush: 'We're Going Forward'

The vice president also took a swipe at critics of Bush's plan for not offering a different strategy to win a war that he calls pivotal to future U.S. interests.

"I have yet to hear a coherent policy out of the Democratic side, with respect to an alternative to what the president's proposed in terms of going forward," he said.

Bush, Cheney and Hadley emphasized that the rise in troop numbers will be coupled with new efforts to get Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to take tough action to improve security in the country.

"I told him it's time to get going," Bush said of Maliki, who in the past has blocked U.S. troops from engaging fighters loyal to militant cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Maliki has often bent to the demands of Sadr, who has a powerful Shiite militia in Iraq as well as a decisive number of seats in the Iraqi parliament.

Asked if Sadr is an enemy of the United States, Bush hedged. "If he is ordering his people to kill Americans, he is," he said.

Administration officials have said that Maliki is also under pressure from the Iraqi people to do what it takes to improve the poor security in Iraq, even if it means confronting fellow Shiites and other political supporters.

"The good news is, that's not only a message that's coming from the American people and from the American president. That is what the government is hearing from their own people," Hadley said. "The Iraqi people are sick of the violence. They want some security. They're telling their government it's time to step up."

At the same time, Iraqis have shown a growing distaste for the presence of foreign forces in their country. A September poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org found that 61 percent of Iraqis approved of attacks on coalition forces -- a 14-point increase from the previous January.

Despite the growing antipathy to the U.S. presence in Iraq both in that country and here, Bush said he is determined to see the war through.

"I'm not going to change my principles," Bush said. "I'm not going to, you know, I'm not going to try to be popular and change principles to do so."

"You cannot simply stick your finger up in the wind and say, 'Gee, public opinion's against, we better quit,' " Cheney agreed. That would "validate the al-Qaeda view of the world," he added.

In the "60 Minutes" interview, Bush said that although Iraq has descended into instability since the U.S. invasion in March 2003, the removal of Saddam Hussein nonetheless was worthwhile. Hussein's remaining in power, he asserted, would have only led to a potential nuclear arms race between Iran and Iraq, which would have created even greater instability.