WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Saturday urged Americans to be proud of their country and hailed the role played by the US military in various parts of the world.

"We live in a nation founded on the power of an idea, a nation where opportunity is limited only by imagination, and a nation that has done more than any other to spread the light of liberty throughout the world," the president said in his weekly radio address one day after the nation celebrated Independence Day.

"Today, that light shines as brightly as it did in 1776," Bush added.

The president pointed out that today, members of the US armed forces continued the "proud tradition of defending liberty."

"In places like Afghanistan and Iraq, many risk their lives every day to protect America and uphold the principle that human freedom is the birthright of all people and a gift from the Almighty," he said. "These brave Americans make it possible for America to endure as a free society."

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