'A free Iraq' to signal end of US mission: Bush

The comments, made in an exclusive interview broadcast by NBC News late Sunday, came amid mounting international pressure to step up efforts to restore Iraqi sovereignty and lay the groundwork for a gradual drawdown of US forces.

Dozens of people, including mothers of American soldiers serving in Iraq, demonstrated outside the White House Saturday, demanding that the president bring their loved ones home.

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A Gallup opinion poll conducted at the end of last month showed 52 percent of Americans believed the war in Iraq was not worth all the sacrifices, while 45 percent held the opposite view.