WASHINGTON -- Responding to the deadliest attack on U.S. soldiers since the war in Iraq began 22 months ago, President Bush yesterday said the tragedy does not overshadow "the idea of a democracy taking hold in what was a place of tyranny and hatred and destruction -- it's such a hopeful moment."

At the same time, Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters that the administration never expected the violent level of insurgency against U.S. troops that has arisen in Iraq. "I don't know of any reporting that anyone saw that anticipated an insurgency of this level," he said.

Powell, who is leaving office as soon as his successor, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, can be confirmed in January, said Americans know that the United States must "stay the course" in Iraq and predicted that U.S. soldiers would be in the country "in significant numbers" at least through 2005.

The White House said the new attack strengthens the administration's resolve not to delay by even a day the Jan. 30 elections to select a democratic leadership in Iraq.

The devastating assault just before Christmas on a U.S. military camp dining hall that killed U.S. soldiers, civilians and Iraqis and injured dozens more outside Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, caused political repercussions throughout Washington. No Democrats publicly called for the withdrawal of American forces, but a number insisted that the administration still has not committed enough troops to make Iraq safe from insurgents.

Ken Pollack, a former national security official in the Clinton administration, who wrote a book, "Threatening Storm," laying out the case for going to war against Saddam Hussein, said the attack on a supposedly secure U.S. military base showed that there were still not enough troops to contain the violence in such a large, heavily populated country as Iraq.

There are expected to be 160,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq by the time of the elections, scheduled for Jan. 30. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War against Iraq, there were 500,000 U.S. soldiers committed.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., a Foreign Relations Committee member, told reporters and TV cameras in his home state, "We're in worse trouble in Iraq than we've ever been in [there]." Noting that more than 1,300 Americans have been killed in a war that has cost of billions of dollars, he said, "Now, you tell me whether we're winning or we're losing."

But British Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday during a surprise visit to Baghdad that he was convinced by speaking to Iraqis who want freedom and democracy that the British and Americans deployed there were "doing the right thing."

A Gallup Poll for CNN and USA Today this week showed that, for the first time, a majority of Americans surveyed -- 51 percent --disapprove of the decision to go to war in Iraq. Nearly 6 in 10 respondents said they disapprove of the U.S. handling of Iraq in recent months, and 47 percent said the situation there was worse than a year ago.

After the attack, Bush, with his wife, Laura, left a building at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital in Washington, where he had visited soldiers recuperating from injuries sustained in Iraq.

"Today, we had a rocket attack that took a lot of lives," he said. "Any time of the year is a time of sorrow and sadness when we lose a loss of life. This time of year, it's particularly sorrowful for the families as we head into the Christmas season. We pray for them. We send our heartfelt condolences to the loved ones who suffer today. We just want them to know that the mission is a vital mission for peace.

"The idea of a democracy taking hold in what was a place of tyranny and hatred and destruction is -- it's such a hopeful moment in the history of the world," Bush said. "And I want to thank the soldiers who are there, thank those who have sacrificed and the families who are worried about them during this Christmas season for their sacrifice. ... I'm confident democracy will prevail in Iraq. I know a free Iraq will lead to a more peaceful world. So we ask for God's blessings on all who are involved in that vital mission."

Powell, in a luncheon session with reporters, said disasters such as the rocket attack on U.S. troops near Mosul won't force the United States out of Iraq. He urged Americans during the holiday season to remember these "wonderful young men and women" who were slain and injured. "We're saddened," Powell said, "but we can't let this stop us.

"Certainly, we'll be there through 2005 in significant numbers," he said.