President Bush says Afghanistan and Iraq are making progress in the war on terrorism.

President Bush gestures during a news conference at the White House in Washington, 09 Aug 2007

In his weekly radio address Saturday, Mr. Bush talked about his meeting with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai at Camp David earlier this week. He said President Karzai told him officials from Afghanistan and Pakistan have been meeting to discuss how to deal with extremists who are targeting both their countries.

Regarding Iraq, Mr. Bush said his "troop surge," a buildup of U.S. forces in Iraq since the beginning of this year, is helping coalition troops seize the initiative from the enemy and give it to the Iraqi people, although he admitted political progress has been slower than hoped.

He said since January, each month coalition forces have killed or captured an average of more than 1,500 al-Qaida terrorists and enemies of the Iraqi government.