US President George W. Bush said on Wednesday that the United States has a solemn duty to stay on the offensive in Iraq to defeat the terrorists there and lay the foundation of peace in the country.

"We have a solemn duty to stay on the offense against these people, to defeat them in other lands so we don't have to face them here at home. And we have a solemn duty to lay the foundation of peace for generations to come," Bush said in a speech at the 20th anniversary of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Bush said that Iraq has become the central battlefront in the war on terror, although it is not the only place that the United States is fighting the terrorists.

Bush made the remarks as new polls showed that a majority of Americans disapprove the policy of the Bush administration in Iraq.

According to a USA Today/CNN poll Tuesday, 63 percent of Americans would support a withdrawal of US forces from Iraq and 59 percent think invading Iraq was a mistake.

Source: Xinhua