Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said the war in Iraq is entering a “new stage” now that the country has approved a security agreement that gives American forces three years to leave the country.

“There were legitimate differences of opinion about the initial decision to remove Saddam Hussein and the subsequent conduct of the war,” Bush said today in his weekly radio address. As the situation has improved, “Americans should be able to agree that it is in our nation’s strategic and moral interests to support a free and Democratic Iraq,” Bush said.

Violence ebbed in Iraq this year after an increase in U.S. troop numbers and Sunni tribesmen turned against al-Qaeda-linked militants. Attacks on U.S. troops have fallen to less than 300 a week from a high of more than 1,500 in June 2007.

U.S. officials have warned the progress is fragile and that sectarian violence between the Shiite and Sunni Muslim communities may flare up as the country prepares for provincial elections on Jan. 31.

The new Iraq security agreement calls for U.S. troops to pull back from the country’s towns and cities by the middle of next year and to leave the country by the end of 2011. It also curbs U.S. powers to detain Iraqi citizens and conduct military operations.

There are about 146,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq, with a brigade combat team of about 3,500 personnel scheduled to leave without replacement before the end of the year. While Bush has resisted any timetable for a withdrawal, his successor, President-elect Barack Obama, has said he wants U.S. forces out of Iraq 16 months after taking office.

Bush said today the security pact will “solidify Iraq’s democratic gains, affirm its sovereignty and put its relations with the United States on a strong and steady footing.”

“The battle in Iraq has required a large amount of time and a large amount of money,” Bush said in his radio address. And while “the war in Iraq is not yet over,” the president said, “it is decisively on its way to being won.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Washington at hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 6, 2008 10:06 EST