US President George W. Bush says Saddam Hussein's fall has removed a source of Middle East violence and instability, calling on other countries to show more resolve against terrorism.
On the eve of the first anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, blasts echoed across Baghdad from a suspected mortar or rocket attack on the headquarters of the U.S.-led administration. The U.S. military said there were no casualties.
"Any sign of weakness or retreat simply validates terrorist violence and invites more violence for all nations," Bush told representatives from 83 countries at the White House on Friday.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said during a visit to Baghdad the war had rid Iraq of a "horrible dictatorial regime".
But Iraqi journalists gave him a hostile reception, walking out of his news conference in protest at a lack of security in Iraq and the killing of two of their colleagues at a U.S. checkpoint in Baghdad on Thursday night.
A U.S. Marine's death from wounds in a mortar attack brought to 392 the number of American troops lost in action since U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq to rid it of weapons of mass destruction that Bush accused Saddam of possessing. No such arms have been found.