US President George W. Bush concedes he is not popular, and that the war in Iraq is not either. Yes, progress is overdue and patience is all but gone. Yet none of that changes his view that more US troops are needed to win in Iraq.

"I'm not going to try to be popular and change principles to do so," Bush said in a television interview that was aired on Sunday night.

Digging in for confrontation, Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney say they will not budge from sending more US troops to Iraq no matter how much Congress opposes it.

"I fully understand they could try to stop me," Bush, a Republican, said of the Democrat-run Congress. "But I've made my decision, and we're going forward."

As the president talked tough, lawmakers pledged to explore ways to stop him.

A defiant Cheney, meanwhile, said Democrats offered criticism without credible alternatives. He pointedly reminded lawmakers that Bush is commander in chief.

"You cannot run a war by committee," the vice-president said of congressional input.