WASHINGTON — President Bush laid out a troop reduction plan in a prime-time televised speech Thursday, capping off a busy week of Iraq war discussion on Capitol Hill.

Bush told the nation that 5,700 U.S. forces would be home by Christmas and that five additional brigades would be home by July, based on recommendations from General David Petraeus, who testified before House and Senate committees this week.

"Americans want our country to be safe and our troops to begin coming home from Iraq," Bush said. "Yet those of us who believe success in Iraq is essential to our security, and those who believe we should begin bringing our troops home, have been at odds. Now, because of the measure of succes we are seeing in Iraq, we can begin seeing troops come home."

Bush said the troop reduction plan makes it possible "for the first time in years, for people who have been on opposite sides of this difficult debate to come together."

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said it was "important" for the president to speak directly about the progress being made in Iraq.

"With all the spin on the airwaves, I think a lot of people missed General Petraeus' main point: that our new strategy, in large part, is working," Hatch said. "That is the conclusion I reached during my recent trip to Iraq. There have been dramatic improvements in al-Anbar province and steady advances in Baghdad."

Hatch visited Iraq in May, a year after his first trip to the country.

Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, said it is clear the president understands "that retreat, no matter what euphemism it is cloaked in, is not a strategy."

"The fact is, Iraq is the central front in the war against jihadism," Cannon said. "For the sake of our children and our way of life, it is a war that we cannot afford to lose. The sooner the Democrat leadership starts listening to General Petraeus instead of kowtowing to moveon.org, the sooner we can bring the troops home cloaked in victory and assured that al-Qaeda knows that Americans will not accept defeat at the hands of extremism."

Attempts to reach Reps. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, and Jim Matheson, D-Utah, were unsuccessful Thursday night. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, is out of the country.

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