President Bush on Monday paid respects to the hundreds of thousands of American soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery, urging the nation to ensure the Iraq war “justifies the sacrifices made by those who fought and died in it.”

“From their deaths must come a world where the cruel dreams of tyrants and terrorists are frustrated and foiled, where our nation is more secure from attack, and where the gift of liberty is secured for millions who have never known it,” Bush said, standing before a crowd of thousands gathered on the marble amphitheater benches.