WASHINGTON, April 1: President George Bush has said that US-led coalition troops were moving closer to Baghdad and claimed a number of military accomplishments in ground war.

“Many dangers lie ahead, but day by day we are moving closer to Baghdad,” the president said in a speech to Coast Guard personnel on Philadelphia’s docks on Monday evening.

“The dying regime in Iraq may try to bring terror to our shores,” the president said. Mr Bush also said that terrorist networks might consider the war an opportunity to strike America. “They are wrong,” he said. “We are meeting the threats and acting to prevent the dangers.”

Mr Bush’s public-relations offensive followed increasing, and sometimes critical, scrutiny of the war’s progress from different quarters. The Pentagon has come under fire for raising expectations for a swift victory in Iraq. And in recent days, retired generals have insisted that Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dangerously ignored advice that ground troops in Iraq were stretched too thin.