POSTED: 3:18 pm PDT July 12, 2007
UPDATED: 6:04 pm PDT July 12, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives has voted to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by next spring.

The measure passed 223-to-201 in the Democratic-controlled House despite a veto threat from President George W. Bush, who has ruled out any change in war policy before September.

The legislation would require the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops to begin within 120 days, and to be completed by April 1, 2008. The measure envisions a limited residual force to train Iraqis, protect U.S. assets and fight al-Qaida and other terrorists.

The vote generally followed party lines: 219 Democrats and four Republicans in favor, and 191 Republicans and 10 Democrats opposed.

The Senate is not expected to follow the House's lead.

The vote came hours after the Bush administration conceded in an interim assessment that Iraq has achieved only spotty progress toward a democratic society.

The Iraqi government has supplied three combat brigades for Baghdad security and $7.3 billion in security funds, as it promised, Bush said. On the other hand, "political progress is lagging behind."

The political results are not surprising because not all of the security benchmarks are in place, he said.

Bush said he wants a more limited role for the U.S. in Iraq, but his theater commanders have told him that conditions on the ground are not secure and to pull troops out in the near future would result in more bloodshed and chaos, Bush said.

"We can succeed in Iraq, and we must," Bush said, adding that he placed more faith in his commanders in Iraq than in Congress to run the war. And those commanders have told him it's too soon to judge the success of the troop surge started in January.

For that reason, he said he continued to respect the right of Congress to debate and fund the war, but he said allowing Congress to run the war on the ground was a "recipe for disaster."

The American people are also tired of the war, Bush said, but he insisted repeatedly that he would wait for a final report in September from the Pentagon, as ordered by Congress, before changing his strategy.

"I understand that this is an ugly war. It's a war in which an enemy will kill innocent men, women and children in order to achieve a political objective. It doesn't surprise me that there is deep concern amongst our people," Bush said.

Bush referred to some Senators of his own party who have openly broken with him on his strategy as "friends of mine."

"I respect those Republicans that you're referring to. I presume you're referring to friends of mine," Bush said. "These are good, honorable people. I've spoken to them and I listen very carefully to what they have to say."

"They share my concern that a precipitous withdrawal would embolden al-Qaida. And they also understand that we can't let alQaida gain safe haven inside of Iraq," Bush said.

"What I tell them is this, just what I've told you, is that as the commander-in-chief of the greatest military ever, I have an obligation, a sincere and serious obligation, to hear out my commander on the ground. And I will take his recommendation," Bush said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada wasted no time in responding to the president.