WEST POINT (New York) - US PRESIDENT George W. Bush promised on Tuesday to 'do what is necessary' to blunt any terrorist threats originating from suspected extremist havens in Pakistan's remote tribal areas.

In a speech at the US Military Academy, Mr Bush also mounted a no-apologies defense of his so-called 'preventive war' justification for the Iraq invasion and urged successor Barack Obama to keep pressure on US foes like Iran.

Mr Bush told cadets that Obama would command US forces better suited than they were eight years ago to battle terrorism, and that one critical mission was helping allies control 'ungoverned spaces' where extremists can thrive.

'The problem is most pronounced in Pakistan, where areas along the Afghanistan border are home to Taliban and to al-Qaeda fighters,' Mr Bush said of a region thought to be home to the terrorist network's chief, Osama bin Laden.

'We have made it clear to Pakistan and to all our partners that we will do what is necessary to protect American troops and the American people,' said the US president, who leaves office Jan 20.

His remarks came amid public tensions between Washington and Islamabad over a string of suspected US missile strikes targeting potential extremists, which have stoked anger in Pakistan.

Mr Bush, who has called India's nuclear rival an ally in the war on terrorism declared after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks, said the government in Islamabad was 'working to enforce the law and fight terror in the border areas' and that Washington 'is providing strong support for these efforts.'

The US president did not directly address India's complaints that Pakistan had done too little to battle extremists, and anger in New Delhi over alleged Pakistani involvement in last month's terrorist siege in Mumbai.

But he said that the Mumbai attacks - which left 172 dead, including nine gunmen - showed that 'the terrorists continue to pose serious challenges.'

Mr Bush, who was delivering his latest legacy-defending speech, did not name Mr Obama but in remarks plainly aimed at the president-elect insisted on the need to sustain intense international pressure on US foes.

'We must keep up the pressure on regimes that sponsor terror and pursue weapons of mass destruction,' said Mr Bush, who did not specifically identify any countries.

The US list of state sponsors of terrorism includes Cuba, Iran, Syria, and Sudan. Washington has also charged that Tehran's nuclear program hides a quest to develop an atomic arsenal.

The president also defended his so-called 'preventive war' policy, sometimes called the Bush Doctrine, which he articulated at length in a speech at West Point as part of the buildup to the invasion of Iraq.

'We understood, as I said here at West Point in 2002, 'if we wait for threats to fully materialise, we will have waited too long.'

So we made clear that hostile regimes sponsoring terror or pursuing weapons of mass destruction would be held to account,' he said.

While the international community had long respected a right to preemptive action to blunt imminent danger, Mr Bush's controversial doctrine holds that the possibility of a threat in the future can sometimes be justification for going to war.

Seven years after vowing to get bin Laden 'dead or alive,' Mr Bush said that the Al-Qaeda mastermind and chief deputy Ayman Zawahiri would eventually get their due.

They 'remain at large, yet they are facing pressure so intense that the only way they can stay alive is to stay underground. The day will come - the day will come - when they receive the justice they deserve,' he said. -- AFP