The Army’s top commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, admitted Sunday US troops may stay in Iraq beyond the 2011 withdrawal date. Odierno made the comment on CNN’s State of the Union.

Gen. Odierno: “If the government of Iraq requests some technical assistance in fielding, systems that allow them to continue to protect themselves from external threats, we could be here. I mean, you know, we have agreements like that in Saudi Arabia, we have agreements like that in Egypt, that continues to help them to develop their infrastructure and security architecture. If that’s what we’re talking about, potentially we could be there [in Iraq] beyond 2011.”