Washington, D.C. ? As security conditions improve in Iraq, the U.S. should be able to reduce forces at a slow but consistent pace beyond this summer, but air support and ground troops likely will be needed for five to 10 years, a top military commander said Thursday.

Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, also said he believes Iraqi forces will be able to take over security in their country much quicker than they have suggested.

“What we don’t want to do is suddenly pull out a whole bunch of U.S. forces and suddenly turn things over to … the Iraqi security forces,” said Odierno, who will finish his tour in Iraq next month and return to Fort Hood, Texas. “I would like to see it done very slowly over time. And I think if we do that, we’ll find ourselves being more successful … .”