President Bush marked the 4th of July holiday with a speech to U.S. soldiers at an airbase in West Virginia. The president warned against a withdrawal from Iraq and said a continued commitment will take more “sacrifice.”

President Bush: “We all long for the day when there are far fewer servicemen and women in Iraq. The time will come when Iraq has a stable, self-sustaining government that is an ally against these extremists and killers. That time will come when the Iraqi people will not need the help of 159,000 American troops in their country. Yet withdrawing our troops prematurely, based on politics, not based on the advice of our national military commanders, would not be in our best interests.”