Probably never. We have too many interests to protect in that region.

I guess the question is "Will Iraq be our ally after we declare victory and switch to occupation ops?" I am guessing that they will.

Heck, how long have we had bases in Japan and Germany after we won WWII? or Korea after that conflict was over (technically we are still at war there).

This idea that we will just pack up all our troops and equipment and go home is unrealistic, even if we were to relinquish all the daily patrols and counter-insurgent actions to the Iraqis tomorrow, we would still keep at least a few thousand troops and supplies in strategically located and well fortified bases. I bet the "IZ" will be controlled by allied forces for at least another decade.

We aren't going anywhere for a long while.