In his weekly radio address, Bush applauded the assault on Fallujah, west of Baghdad. About 80 percent of the city was said to be under U.S. control, with insurgents pushed into a narrow corner. But the battle has claimed 22 American lives and wounded about 170 U.S. troops and violence has now spread to other Sunni Muslim areas of Iraq.
 

"Our forces have made significant progress in the last several days. They are taking back the city, clearing mosques of weapons and explosives stockpiled by insurgents and restoring order for law-abiding citizens," Bush said.
 

He said "support continues to grow" internationally for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, even though the multinational force will see some reductions in the coming months.
 

While the largest members of Bush's "coalition of the willing" — Britain with 8,500 troops and Italy with 3,000, are standing firm — Hungary says it won't keep its 300 troops there beyond March 31, the Czechs plan to pull out by the end of February and the Dutch soon afterward. Bulgaria says it may slightly reduce its contingent of 480 infantry soldiers next year. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all plan to stay through June. Japan is feeling pressure to withdraw and Spain pulled out its 1,300 troops earlier this year.
 

Denmark, meanwhile, says its 501 troops in the southern Iraqi city of Basra will stay as long as needed, and Romania is considering bolstering its 730-member force for the elections. Georgia is also boosting its troop deployment from 159 to 850.
 

The president also hailed the effort to train and equip Iraqi personnel to take over security for their country. He said nearly 115,000 Iraqi soldiers, police officers and other security personnel are now on duty and that 200,000 will be in place by the end of the year.
 

"Ultimately, Iraq must be able to defend itself, and Iraqi security forces are taking increasing responsibility for their country's security," Bush said.

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=4&u=/ap/20041113/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush