WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- It is n't clear whether the United States will ever be able to declare victory in Iraq , the top U.S. commander there said Thursday . Army Gen. Ray Odierno speaks to reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday . `` I 'm not sure we will ever see anyone declare victory in Iraq , because first off , I 'm not sure we 'll know for 10 years or five years , '' Army Gen. Ray Odierno told reporters at the Pentagon . About 123,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq now , and President Obama says all combat forces will be gone by the end of August 2010 , leaving as many as 50,000 noncombat troops to advise and train Iraqi forces before leaving by the end of 2011 . Odierno has said he wants to draw down the U.S. forces at a faster rate than planned if the security situation allows it . On Thursday , he said he expected the number of U.S. troops to drop to 120,000 by the end of October , and to as few as 110,000 by the end of 2009 . `` What we 've done here is we 're giving Iraq an opportunity in the long term to be a strategic partner of the United States , but more importantly , be a partner in providing regional stability inside of the Middle East , '' Odierno said . Odierno also highlighted continuing security issues inside the country , saying Iraqi security forces have recently seized several `` very large '' caches of Iranian-made rockets and armor-piercing munitions known as explosively formed penetrators , or EFPs . `` If you 're training people ... in Iran to come back into Iraq , and you 're providing them rockets and other things , I call that significant because it still enables people to conduct attacks not only on U.S. forces but on Iraqi civilians , '' Odierno said . At a congressional hearing Wednesday , Odierno said the main threat to stability in Iraq are Arab-Kurd tensions , adding there has been difficulty bringing the two sides together for possible joint patrols . `` We 've had some very good meetings , '' he said . `` But we still have some ways to go on that . ''
U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno makes remark to reporters at Pentagon . About 123,000 U.S. troops in Iraq ; could drop to 110,000 by January , he says . Odierno : Iraqi security forces recently seized caches of Iranian-made weapons .