Bush marks 5th anniversary of Iraq war

US President George W. Bush has marked the fifth anniversary of the US led invasion of Iraq.

Bush says despite the high costs, the Americans are on course for victory.

He also signaled he will not order troop withdrawals beyond those already planned.

On Wednesday, President Bush made some of his most expansive claims of success in Iraq.

He said he had no regrets about the unpopular invasion, and declared the US is on track for a major victory.

George W. Bush, US President, said, "No one would argue that this war has not come at a high cost in lives and treasure, but those costs are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq."

Bush said the increase of 30,000 troops ordered to Iraq last year had turned the situation around.

He signaled he will not order US troop withdrawals beyond those already planned, believing it would jeopardize what he called the hard-fought gains of the past year.

He said faster and larger withdrawals could unravel recent progress.

George W. Bush, US President, said, "We have learned through hard experience what happens when we pull our forces back too fast - the terrorists and extremists step in, they fill vacuums, establish safe havens, and use them to spread chaos and carnage. General Petraeus has warned that too fast a drawdown could result in such an unravelling."

Bush is trying to shore up support for the Iraq campaign, which has damaged the US government's credibility.

Critics used the anniversary as a chance to reassert accusations that Bush launched the invasion based on faulty intelligence, mismanaged the war and failed to put together an exit strategy.

The US has already spent 500 billion dollars on the military operation and nearly 4,000 US soldiers have been killed.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed with millions displaced.