Washington ? President Bush says the United States will successfully pursue its work in Iraq in the face of a violent insurgency that seeks to undermine a peaceful transfer of power to Iraqis on June 30.

“Despite many challenges, life for the Iraqi people is a world away from the cruelty and corruption of Saddam’s regime” and “we will finish our work,” Bush said Saturday.

Bush’s comments come exactly a year after his declaration that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, a point he noted.

The Iraqi resistance has become a major issue in the presidential campaign, with public doubts growing about Bush’s handling of the war, according to the latest polling data. Americans are split evenly on whether taking military action in Iraq was the right thing to do, a CBS News-New York Times poll found this week.