Or not

Iraq Guy doesn't buy the Novak float suggesting the likelihood of withdrawal.

“One reason we might not be taking it seriously is that we're planning to do the wise thing and withdraw.”

Not very likely. A Democrat might “un-ass the AO” if elected, but right now having a US footprint in the Middle East is priceless as far as senior DOD planners are concerned. Centrally located and able to project power to all the other trouble spots in the region – in fact, this is the hot zone now, not Europe. Word is that this is going to be the new Korea as far as 1 year short tours go.

Yes, the obvious usefulness of the new bases they've constructed in Iraq are too great to be ignored, but I thought perhaps they'd make do with those they've built in Afghanistan and Qatar. We did abandon the big one in Saudi Arabia after all. But it was just a suggestion, I have no hard or even mildly rigid information.