The continued sacrifices of American troops in Iraq are necessary to assure security at home, US President Bush said Tuesday night in a key nationally televised address.

"Our progress is uneven, but progress is being made," Bush told an audience of soldiers at Fort Bragg, N.C., home of the Army's famed 82nd Airborne Division. The division has which has lost 44 soldiers in the war on terror �� most of them in Iraq.

Bush continues to speak at this hour, and his aim is to explain to Americans the need for the continuing U.S. presence in Iraq amid slumping public support and calls from some in Congress to set a timetable to bring American troops home.

"Like most Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Every picture is horrifying and the suffering is real," Bush said. But he said Iraqis must be reassured that "America will not leave before the job is done."

"Is the sacrifice worth it? It is worth it and it is vital to the security of our country," Bush told the soldiers.

Terrorists aim "to remake the Middle East in their own image of tyranny and oppression," Bush said. "They will not succeed."

Bush's speech, scheduled on the one-year anniversary of self-rule in Iraq, also comes as a growing and bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing for a detailed strategy for withdrawing the U.S. military from that country. Some want a timetable. A liberal group of lawmakers calling themselves the Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus wants an immediate troop withdrawal.

Just one in three Americans now say the United States and its allies are winning the war, according to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday. That is a new low, down 9 percentage points since February. Half say neither side is winning.

Bush's job-approval rating has suffered, too. His approval rating is 45%, equaling the lowest of his presidency. At 53%, his disapproval rating has reached a new high.

The president is expected to reject calls to set a timetable for withdrawing 135,000 American troops. Instead, he is expected to argue for maintaining the present two-pronged strategy: equipping Iraqi security forces to take over the anti-insurgency fight and helping Iraqi political leaders in the transition to a permanent democratic government.

Bush's challenge is to speak frankly about a tough situation that has cost almost 1,750 American lives and close to a quarter trillion dollars.

"It's time to stop talking down to the American people," said Anthony Cordesman, a noted expert on military policy and strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. "This is a very, very risky situation in Iraq. We're looking at five to 10 more years of instability."

The stakes for Bush are considerable. Much, if not all, of his second term will be spent with a major U.S. troop presence in Iraq unless there is a change of policy. Lawmakers visiting with U.S. generals in Iraq have predicted that substantial numbers of American troops will be there for two more years or longer because of the tenacity of the insurgency.

Source: Agencies