WASHINGTON, June 21: US President George Bush warned on Saturday that the US forces in Iraq face a future of “danger and sacrifice” before the country is secure.

Mr Bush, in his weekly radio address, also reaffirmed his determination that Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction would be found.

“Making Iraq secure is vitally important for both Iraqi citizens and our own forces,” Bush said.

“The men and women of our military face a continuing risk of danger and sacrifice in Iraq.

“Dangerous pockets of the old regime remain loyal to it and they, along with their terrorist allies, are behind deadly attacks designed to kill and intimidate coalition forces and innocent Iraqis.”

“Military and intelligence officials are interviewing scientists with knowledge of Saddam Hussein’s weapons programs and are poring over hundreds of thousands of documents.

“For more than a decade, Saddam Hussein went to great lengths to hide his weapons from the world. And in the regime’s final days, documents and suspected weapons sites were looted and burned.

“Yet all who know the dictator’s history agree that he possessed chemical and biological weapons and that he used chemical weapons in the past.—AFP