Iraqis also sacrificing for their country: Bush

CRAWFORD: US President George W Bush said on Saturday that Iraqis are sacrificing dearly to secure their country; trying to underscore that the US is not bearing the toll alone.

"Here at home, it can be easy to overlook the bravery shown by Iraqi troops and Iraqi civilians, but our troops on the ground see it every day," Bush said in a radio address taped at his ranch in central Texas.
    
Bush told the story of an Iraqi man who stepped forward to intercept a suicide bomber who was running for a team of American soldiers and Iraqi citizens near Baghdad.

A citizens group, Bush said, tipped off police about the location of an Al-Qaida cell believed responsible for the attack, which lead to arrests.
      
Bush's positive take on Iraq's internal efforts comes as lawmakers and the broader public in the US have grown deeply frustrated over Iraq's inability to improve its affairs.
      
"As security improves, more Iraqis are stepping forward to defend their democracy,young Iraqi men are signing up for the army, Iraqi police are now patrolling the streets.

Coalition and Iraqi forces have doubled the number of joint operations," Bush observed.
      
Bush's address comes days after he compared the Iraq war to Vietnam, linking the US pullout back then to the rise of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and warning that withdrawing troops now could have similarly disastrous consequences.