The talk of a delayed Afghan withdrawal comes as Iraq’s top military officer has said he wants US troops to stay in Iraq for the next decade, despite a withdrawal timetable for the end of next year. Speaking to Agence France-Presse, Lieutenant General Babakir Zebari said he wants the US army to remain in Iraq until the Iraqi army is fully ready in 2020. Zebari’s comments come as the Obama administration is claiming it’s on pace to withdraw around 14,000 US troops from Iraq by the end of the month. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the US commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, briefed the White House on Wednesday.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs: “The President heard directly from General Odierno, who said that we are on target to complete our drawdown by the end of August. Already we’ve removed over 80,000 troops from Iraq since President Obama took office. General Odierno also reported that the security situation has retained the significant improvements made over the last couple of years and that Iraqi security forces are fully prepared to be in the lead when we end our combat mission later this month.”