Iraq ? The nearly two-month delay in holding Iraq’s nationwide elections will not keep American combat troops from leaving the country as scheduled by the end of August, the top U.S. commander in Iraq told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday.

“The plan that I put together originally gave me plenty of flexibility, and part of that flexibility was that the election would be delayed, so I built flexibility into our plan,” Gen. Ray Odierno said at a military base in Iraq’s Diyala Province. “I feel comfortable that we’re on track.”

Iraq was originally scheduled to hold key elections in January that will determine who will lead the country as American forces go home, but political wrangling over how to apportion votes in a law needed to carry out the balloting delayed the vote until March 7.

Under a U.S. plan, all combat troops are slated to leave Iraq by the end of August. The remaining 50,000 U.S. forces will be doing noncombat operations such as training.