At the Pentagon, President Bush issued a strong endorsement of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and provided an update on the war in Iraq. The following is text of Mr. Bush's statement as transcribed by the White House.

The United States bombed the Baghdad headquarters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr today. The coalition said 35 insurgents were killed in the strike, while two American troops were killed elsewhere in Iraq. Terence Smith gets an update on the…

Coalition forces launched fresh offensives into the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala, which had been under the control of militias loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Margaret Warner discusses the developments with New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins,…