WASHINGTON, Saturday (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that she is “proud” of the US decision to invade Iraq and that the Middle East has improved since President George W. Bush took office.

In an interview with Bloomberg television on Friday, Rice also cited progress in North Korea and China as evidence that the Bush administration, which has just seven months left in office, had made strides over the past eight years.

“I am proud by the decision of this administration to overthrow Saddam Hussein. I am proud of the liberation of 20 million Iraqis,” Rice said in the interview taped earlier in the week.

“Iraq has been very tough. Tougher than any of us had dreamed. We can never replace the people who have been lost. We can never do anything to soothe the pain of the family and friends that they have left behind, but we are seeing a change in Iraq for the better,” she said.

The interview aired as the United States marked the Independence Day holiday. The US military has lost 4,113 personnel since the March 2003 invasion, according to independent website www.icasualties.org.