The New York Timeshas quoted President George W. Bush as saying that he made "a miscalculation of what the conditions would be" in post-war Iraq.
But Mr Bush insisted the 17-month-long insurgency was the unintended by-product of a "swift victory" against Saddam Hussein's military, the Timesreported.
The president said his strategy had been "flexible enough" to respond. "We're adjusting to our conditions" in places like Najaf, the paper quoted him as saying. The Timessaid Mr Bush deflected further inquiries as to what had gone wrong with the occupation.
According to the Pentagon, 969 US troops have died in Iraq since the invasion, 828 of them since April 30th, 2003. An additional 6,690 service members have been wounded, most of them during the occupation.
In an interview published today in USA Today, Mr Bush said Americans will re-elect him to a second term even if they disagree with his decision to invade Iraq.
He said voters "know who I am and I believe they're comfortable with the fact that they know I'm not going to shift principles or shift positions based upon polls and focus groups."
The newspaper also reported Mr Bush displayed none of the alarm about North Korea's growing arsenal that he once voiced regularly about Iraq. It quoted him as saying about the leaders of North Korea and Iran: "I don't think you give timelines to dictators."
Mr Bush said he would continue diplomatic pressure. "I'm confident that over time this [diplomacy] will work - I certainly hope it does," the newspaper quoted Mr Bush as saying.