Bush sees 'encouraging news' in Iraq, Afghanistan

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (AP) -- President Bush, presiding over a nation dispirited by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, on Saturday cast both conflicts in terms of "encouraging news."

In stating his case, the president emphasized enemy deaths.

"Our new strategy is delivering good results," Bush said of Iraq in his weekly radio address, taped at his parents' summer home on the rocky coast of Maine.

The president said his buildup of U.S. forces in Iraq, designed to provide security for the Iraqi government, was taking hold and showing gains.

He acknowledged again, though, that Iraq has made frustratingly slow political progress.

Bush's comments came as Washington, like much of the nation, has shifted into vacation time. He said that in an otherwise slow news month, the war against terrorists rages on. Listen as Bush says the "surge" is seizing the initiative from insurgents »

Bush's address amounted to another appeal for patience and upbeat view of events.

He noted the death of Haitham Sabah al-Badri, an al Qaeda leader who was behind the bombing of twin minarets at Iraq's prized Golden Dome shrine in Samarra. Al-Badri was killed in a U.S. operation this month.

"His death is a victory for a free Iraq, and a sign that America and the Iraqi government will not surrender the future of Iraq to coldblooded killers," Bush said.

Overall, Bush said al Qaeda and other extremists are under withering attack.

"Since January," he said, "each month we have killed or captured an average of more than 1,500 al Qaeda terrorists and other enemies of Iraq's elected government."

Bush faces sustained skepticism from Congress and the American people. Democratic lawmakers, and many Republican ones too, have lost patience in Iraq's leadership.

The next pivotal step for Bush comes in September with an update from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

"Iraqi forces have taken responsibility for security in a number of areas," Bush said. "They are taking losses at a much higher rate than we are. And they're making these sacrifices willingly, because they are determined to see their children live in freedom."

Despite U.S. pressure, Iraq's parliament went on vacation for a month after failing either to pass legislation to share the nation's oil wealth or to reconcile differences among the factions. And the legitimacy of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has grown more tenuous.

On Afghanistan, Bush voiced confidence in Afghan President Hamid Karzai, with whom he met at the Camp David, Maryland, presidential retreat earlier in the week.

Bush, echoing Karzai, said the resurgent Taliban are not a threat to the government of Afghanistan. "The Taliban fighters can still launch attacks on the innocent, but they cannot stop the march of democracy in Afghanistan," Bush said. E-mail to a friend

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