WASHINGTON - President Bush says success by U.S. forces in Iraq will allow him to withdraw 5,700 (out of 168,000) U.S. troops by the end of this year, though opposition Democrats say more troops should come home sooner.

In a televised address from his Oval Office at the White House Thursday, Mr. Bush said the reduction is possible because his decision to send reinforcements to Iraq earlier this year has improved security.

His new plan would continue to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq through the middle of 2008, leaving about 130,000 Americans there by July.

In the opposition Democratic Party’s response to the president’s address, Senator Jack Reed (of Rhode Island) said it is time to change course in Iraq by rapidly reducing troop strength. He said the president’s surge of troops has failed to achieve what Mr. Bush previously identified as the primary goal: to give Iraq’s leaders a chance to achieve political reconciliation.

President Bush says the Iraqi government has had success - in passing a budget, sharing oil revenues among the country’s provinces, and allowing former Ba’athists to rejoin Iraq’s military and receive government pensions.

The president pledged that General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who briefed Congress on the war this week, will assess the military and political situation in Iraq again in six months’ time.

Bush administration officials said earlier Thursday that the president wants to get the U.S. position in Iraq to a point where it is “in a good place” for this nation’s next president, who will take office in early 2009.

The officials - who asked not to be identified - say whoever is elected is going to have gauge the U.S. presence in Iraq and decide how it affects U.S. national security.

A public opinion poll this week by Associated Press indicated that nearly two-thirds of all Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of the war.

President Bush tried to close that gap Thursday by saying that those who believe success in Iraq is essential to America’s security are not so far from those who believe U.S. troops should come home now.

Source:  VOA News