US President George W. Bush reiterated on Wednesday that American troops would remain in Iraq until their mission is accomplished.

"The violence in recent days in Iraq is a grim reminder of the enemies we face," Bush said in a speech in Grapevine, Texas.

"These terrorists and insurgents will use brutal tactics because they're trying to shake the will of the United States of America. That's what they're trying to do. They want us to retreat. They want us to end our compassion for the innocent," he said.

"They will fail. They do not understand the character and the strength of the United States of America. They do not understand our desire to protect ourselves, to protect our friends, to protect our allies and to spread freedom around the world."

Bush made the remarks after more than a dozen of US soldiers were killed by insurgents in Iraq in recent days.

Fourteen US Marines were killed by a roadside bomb on Wednesdaynear Haditha, 260 kilometers (160 miles) northwest of Baghdad. The killing brought to 21 the total of US soldiers killed in western Iraq since Monday.

The US death toll since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq has come up to 1,811.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2005)