The man nominated to be the next US Defence Secretary says he expects Iraq to ask America to maintain a troop presence in the country beyond the end of this year.
US forces are scheduled to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
Speaking at a Senate committee considering his nomination, outgoing CIA chief Leon Panetta said the US should say 'yes' when Iraq does ask.
'It's clear to me that Iraq is considering the possibility of making a request for some kind of (troop) presence to remain there,' Mr Panetta said.
He said that he had 'every confidence' the request would be 'forthcoming at some point'.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shia-led coalition government is debating the sensitive question of whether to ask the US to keep some of its 47,000 troops still in Iraq, if only in a training and advisory role.
Mr Maliki has called for a 'mutual and unified national stand' on the issue by 1 August.
He has criticised other groups in the coalition for either not defining their position or using the sensitive issue to attack him and other groups.
US and Iraqi military commanders are concerned Iraq's armed forces may not be fully ready to defend the country alone.
The US has pointed to gaps in Iraqi air defence, intelligence gathering, logistics and more.
Violence is down considerably since the height of Iraqi sectarian killings in 2006-2007 but security remains precarious.
Mr Panetta said he estimated there were 1,000 members of al-Qaeda still in Iraq.
'It, too, continues to be a fragile situation (in Iraq). And I believe that we should take whatever steps are necessary to make sure that we protect whatever progress we've made there,' he said.
