MacDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AP) - President Bush said Wednesday the war in Iraq is far from over and warned that coalition forces will face ''the most desperate elements of a doomed regime'' as they close in on Baghdad.

Trying to rally troops and an anxious American public amid stiffening Iraqi resistance, Bush said, ''We will stay on the path, mile by mile, all the way to Baghdad and all the way to victory.''

Bush spoke to hundreds of uniformed military personnel as rising U.S. and British casualties raised questions about American battle plans. Nine Marines were killed Sunday in an ambush, and Army helicopters encountered fierce resistance during an attack Monday on Republican Guard units protecting the approaches to Baghdad. One helicopter went down and its two-man crew was captured.

The first bodies of fallen American servicemen were brought back to the United States on Tuesday.

''We pray that God will bless and receive each of the fallen, and we thank God that liberty found such brave defenders,'' the president said.

Their sacrifice was not in vain, Bush said, asserting that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction could have gotten in the hands of terrorists.

''We will not wait to meet this danger with firefighters and doctors and police on the streets of our own cities,'' he said. ''Instead, we are meeting this danger today with our Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marines.''

He listed achievements of the small military coalition that consists mostly of British and U.S. forces. Air fields have been seized, terrorists camps destroyed and Saddam Hussein's highly trained Republican Guard troops are under ''direct and intense attack,'' the president said.

''Day by day, Saddam Hussein is losing his grip on Iraq. Day by day, the Iraqi people are closer to freedom,'' he said.

''The military is making good progress in Iraq, yet this war is far from over,'' Bush said. ''As they approach Baghdad, our fighting units are facing the most desperate elements of a doomed regime. We cannot know the duration of this war, but we are prepared for the battle ahead.''

Bush's choice of words itself may have reflected concern about the pace of the war. Ahead of the speech, presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer had said that Bush intended to tell his audience war ''progress is ahead of schedule.'' But a White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity said later that the president scratched out the phrase ''ahead of schedule'' as he reviewed the text en route here aboard Air Force One. Bush wanted to be more circumspect in his wording, the official said.