Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, was among six senators calling for legislation embracing the recommendations, which include the possible removal of troops by March 2008 if conditions on the ground permit.

However, Bennett said, that is not a binding timeline, and he wants to hear from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who is expected to report on conditions in Iraq in September, before making any judgments on withdrawal.

"September is not that far away. He's doing a good job, but let's be patient enough to let him make his report," Bennett said.

Bush had been cool to the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, headed by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, when the panel issued its report last December. But Bennett said he is not going against the president.

"I would characterize it more as a nudge than a break," Bennett said in an interview. "He has not endorsed it, but he's now friendlier to it than he was at the time when it came out."

Indeed, speaking to reporters Thursday, Bush was more welcoming of the group's course than he had been.

"Victory will come when [Iraq] is stable enough to be able to be an ally in the war on terror and to govern itself and defend itself. One of the things that appealed to me about the Baker-Hamilton is that it will provide a - kind of a long-term basis for" how that can happen, Bush said. "I believe this is an area where we can find common ground with Democrats and Republicans."

The president's comments come as a new CBS News/New York Times poll show the nation's support for the war is at an all-time low. Three out of four say things are not going well in Iraq, and nearly half say they are going very badly, the poll found. About 60 percent said the United States should have stayed out of the country. But a majority support continued funding.

Bennett joins Sens. Ken Salazar, D-Colo.; Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.; Mark Pryor, D-Ark.; and Judd Gregg, R-N.H., in supporting the study group's blueprint.

"Partisan votes will not end this war and neither will the president's refusal to provide an exit strategy to the American people," Pryor said. "This gamesmanship is not helpful to our soldiers and their families."

The Iraq Study Group painted a grim picture of the nation, calling the situation "grave and deteriorating."

It recommended an accelerated effort to train Iraqi police and security forces: negotiations with neighbors, including Iran and Syria; and recommended a redeployment of troops by as soon as March 2008, provided diplomatic and security conditions on the ground permitted.

The legislation the senators plan to introduce next month would make those key recommendations official U.S. policy, including the redeployment language. It also would try to speed up the oil revenue sharing and beef up oversight of reconstruction dollars.

But Anthony Cordesman, an Iraq scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it is "farce" to try to legislate fixes to problems Congress can't control. He said it's hard to see how passing legislation could get soldiers trained faster, force Iran and Syria to cooperate with the United States, or ease sectarian rifts and quell militias.

"Legislation that has no plan, no resources, no schedule and no meaningful definitions is not going to help anybody," Cordesman said. "Any idiot can advance interesting new concepts, and many have. But you're fighting a war where you're having to transform concepts into an operational plan."

Asked about the Iraq Study Group's recommendations this week after returning from Iraq, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah said there are some good ideas and "some stupid things."

Hatch is concerned about the redeployment provisions, disagrees with putting the security forces under the Sunni-associated Ministry of Defense, and is concerned the group's oil-sharing recommendation would cause tension with the Kurds.

Bennett, who was cautious when the group issued its report, said that now that the troop surge has been going on for several months it was a good time to revisit the future course.