Bush defends speech from a year ago declaring major combat over

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Friday defended his speech a year ago on the deck of an aircraft carrier proclaiming the end of major combat in Iraq and said "we're making progress, you bet" in bringing stability to the war-torn country.

Answering reporters' questions in the White House Rose Garden with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin at his side, Bush said that when he spoke aboard carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln he also emphasized that "there was still difficult work ahead."

It will be a year ago today since Bush made his carrier speech beneath a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished" and announced that major combat in Iraq was over. Critics have derided the banner's declaration as U.S. casualties mounted over the past year, with fighting particularly deadly in recent weeks.

As to the carrier speech, Bush said, "A year ago I did give the speech from the carrier saying we had achieved an important objective, accomplished a mission, which was the removal of Saddam Hussein."

"And as a result, there are no longer torture chambers or rape rooms or mass graves in Iraq. As a result, a friend of terror has been removed and now sits in a jail," the president said.

"We face tough times in Iraq," he said. "And we've had some tough fighting because there are people who hate the idea of a free Iraq"

But, Bush added, "We're making progress, you bet ... Whether it be in Fallujah or elsewhere, we will deal with them, those few who are stopping the hopes of many."

There are 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and 24,900 troops from coalition countries.

Of the war casualties, Bush said: "Any time you talk about somebody who died in Iraq or in Afghanistan is a moment for me to thank them and their families for their sacrifice. And their sacrifice will not go in vain, because there will be a free Iraq."