Iraq will emerge from its current chaos as a free nation, US President George W Bush insisted today.
On the first anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the United States President said the country was a key battleground between Islamic fundamentalist terrorism and the US and its allies.
Against the backdrop of anti-war protests in major cities around the world, President Bush urged the international community to contribute to Iraq's reconstruction.
In his weekly radio address to the US people, President Bush said: "Helping Iraq emerge as a free nation is a global responsibility.
"We will never turn over Iraq to terrorists who intend our own destruction. We will not fail the Iraqi people, who have placed their trust in us."
With polls showing the American people divided over President Bush's Iraq policies, the former Texas governor used the speech to push his re-election campaign by linking Iraq to his "war on terror" - an issue on which he is more popular.
"The terrorists hate and target a free Iraq. They also hate and target every country that stands for democracy and tolerance and freedom in the world.
"The war on terror is not a figure of speech. It is the inescapable calling of our generation. Whatever it takes we will seek, and find, and destroy the terrorists."
In Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair was at his country residence Chequers, but was not marking the anniversary.
However, his envoy to Iraq Sir Jeremy Greenstock insisted that Saddam Hussein did have programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction. Speaking from Baghdad, Sir Jeremy said he remained convinced that the deposed dictator had been "hiding something".