US might return to Iraq if asked

The top US commander in Iraq says American troops would return to combat operations if the security situation worsens and if the Iraqi military asks.

Declining to rule out his country’s return to combat, he said, “If they ask us that they might want us to stay longer, we certainly would consider that,” General Ray Odierno told CBS on Sunday.

“That would obviously be a policy decision that would be made by the national security team and the president over time,” he said.

This comes only a few days after the US announced the withdrawal of the last combat brigade from Iraq after 7.5 years since the beginning of war in the country.

But Washington still maintains some 50,000 troops in Iraq.

Under a security pact between Baghdad and Washington, the US should withdraw all troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.