Savannah, Ga. ? President Bush conceded Thursday that it was unrealistic to expect NATO countries to send more troops to Iraq, but made a parting plea to world powers to do more to guide the Iraqi people to a stable democracy.

“They need our help, and they will have our help,” Bush said at the end of a Group of Eight economic summit where European allies expressed resistance to giving NATO an expanded military role.

That means the United States and Britain will continue to provide the bulk of military troops in Iraq for now, although Bush said that over time, “the solution for Iraqi security is going to be provided by the Iraqis.”

French President Jacques Chirac said he believed any direct involvement by NATO troops in Iraq held “great risks, including something of a risk of a clash between the Christian West and the Muslim East.” Chirac did not rule out a training role, however.

Germany also opposes sending NATO troops to Iraq, although Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Thursday that “we have also made it clear that the decision of the NATO members who are involved in Iraq won’t be blocked.”

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush’s strongest ally on Iraq, sought to play down the dispute, saying that strong support earlier this week for a U.N. Security Council resolution “far outweighs any residual disagreement there might be.”

At a news conference here concluding three days of talks at the summit on nearby Sea Island, Bush said he felt the gathering’s biggest accomplishment was the endorsement of his initiative to promote economic and democratic reforms through the Middle East.

“The spread of freedom throughout the Middle East is the imperative of our age,” Bush said.

But even here there was dispute. A U.S. drive to gain support to forgive a significant part of Iraq’s massive $120 billion in foreign debt faltered, in part because of resistance from countries who think relief for Iraq should go hand-in-hand with more generous debt relief for the world’s poorest countries, many of them in Africa.

“How would you explain to these people that in three months we are going to do more for Iraq than we have done in 10 years for the 37 poorest and most indebted countries in the world?” Chirac asked at his closing news conference.

Ron Ellison, an activist from Stockbridge, Ga., beats his drum as riot police close in on a group of demonstrators near the Sea Island security gate on St. Simons Island, Ga. Fourteen protesters were arrested after a spontaneous march from Brunswick, Ga., ended at the Sea Island security gate. The G-8 Summit was finishing up Thursday on Sea Island.