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WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- It would take a breakdown of the Iraqi military for U.S. combat forces to alter their deadline to leave the country, a top U.S. military commander said. U.S. combat forces are set to leave Iraq by Aug. 31 under the terms of a bilateral status of forces agreement signed in 2008.
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U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno said in a weekend interview on CNN's "State of the Union" that it would take a "complete failure" on the part of the Iraqi military for Washington to change its plans.
The general said Iraq has made enough gradual process since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that the military could stand on its own.
"We continue to see political development, economic development and all of these combined together will start to develop an atmosphere that means better security," he said.
Iraq is still without a government nearly six months after national elections in March.
Around 50,000 U.S. soldiers will stay in Iraq through 2011 as military advisers. Odierno said deployment beyond 2011 was possible at the request of the Iraqi government.
Combat forces, he said, could stay beyond the Aug. 31 deadline if asked to do so by Baghdad.
The general told CBS's "Face the Nation," however, that it was premature to call the Iraq war a victory.
"To say whether we've won the war or not, we can see that in three to five years, as we see how Iraq turns out," he said.
