Fourth of July: US President George W. Bush visited troops in Martinsburg, West Virginia where he held a speech that elaborated on a comparison between the ongoing situation in Iraq and the 1776 independence a younger America obtained.

President Bush defended his policy in Iraq on Wednesday, July 4, the USA’s 231st birthday, by telling members of the National Guard and their families gathered at a West Virginia Air National Guard maintenance hangar that now is not the time to retreat.

“Withdrawing our troops prematurely based on politics, not on the advice and recommendation of our military commanders, would not be in our national interest,” Bush said in his Independence Day address.

“It would hand the enemy a victory and put America's security at risk - and that's something we're not going to do,” the president said, warning that the Iraq war “will require more patience, more courage and more sacrifice.”

President Bush added: “If we were to quit Iraq before the job is done, the terrorists we are fighting would not declare victory and lay down their arms. They would follow us here, home.”

The president compared soldiers fighting today in Iraq to soldiers fighting more than two centuries ago for the independence of America from Britain. “You're the successors of those brave men,” the president said. “Like those early patriots, you're fighting a new and unprecedented war, pledging your lives and honor to defend our freedom and our way of life.”