President George W. Bush says that the United States is committed to the June 30 deadline for turning over sovereignty to the Iraqi people.

BUSH: IRAQ, 9/11 Rate Campaign In Iraq Response To Pre-9/11 Memo?

In a rare prime-time news conference Tuesday night, Bush said, "We will not step back from our pledge."

To step back from that pledge now, Bush said, would leave the Iraqi people feeling betrayed.

Nevertheless, the president said, these past few weeks have been "tough." Bush said there has been "serious violence," with remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime, Islamic militants and terrorists from other countries banding together with one common goal.

The president said groups attacking coalition troops "want to run us out of Iraq" and destroy the "democratic hopes of the Iraqi people." But Bush said U.S. troops will finish the work they started.

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President Bush was asked about his agreement to be interviewed jointly with Vice President Cheney by the 9/11 Commission.

The president said it will be "a good chance for both of us to answer questions" from the commission. But he turned aside a reporter's questions about why he plans to speak to the commission with the vice president, instead of separately.

On the topic of U.S. troops, the president said they will remain in Iraq "as long as necessary and not one day more."

But he wouldn't say when the troops will leave.

Bush said Iraqis want security, so U.S. troops will "need to be there for a while." And he says if commanders in Iraq need more troops, they'll get them.

Bush said U.S troops need to continue to train Iraqi troops. He expressed disappointment with the way some of them have performed in recent weeks.

In response to a question about the attitude of the Iraqi people toward U.S. troops, the president said "they're really pleased" to be rid of Saddam Hussein. But he acknowledges they don't want to be occupied, and said he wouldn't want to be, either.

The president also said he wants to know where those weapons of mass destruction are, but he continues to maintain that Saddam was a threat, "so we dealt with him."

Asked by a reporter about critics who liken the situation in Iraq to Vietnam, President Bush said, "I think the analogy is false. I also think the analogy sends the wrong message to our troops and sends the wrong message to the enemy."

The president said "we must stay the course because the end result is in our nation's interest."

The news conference came amid broadcast reports that mutilated bodies found near Fallujah, Iraq, are those of some of the seven missing American civilian contractors. The State Department confirmed four mutilated bodies were found but offered no identification. (Full Story.)

The East Room session was only the third of Bush's presidency in prime time. And it was the first to be announced a day ahead of time.