The Obama administration is increasing warnings it could delay its planned withdrawal from Iraq. The US has pledged to end combat operations by September 2010 and withdraw all troops by the end of 2011. But on Wednesday, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy told a congressional hearing the US could reevaluate its drawdown plans if Iraq delays national elections scheduled for January. Flournoy said the US withdrawal plan is “not rigid.”

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy: “The drawdown plan is not rigid. It has got — it is conditions-based. It leaves room for reevaluation and adjustment, in terms of the pace of the drawdown between now and the end of 2011. So, if need be, we will reexamine things based on conditions on the ground.”