[sam_paine]

A good case could be made to leave a large presence in Iraq until that country can fully defend itself against Iran,

I don't really see a point there, either.

If there was enough capability to maintain a no-fly cap over Iraq when both Iran and Iraq were outright hostile, then there should be little problem of regaining air superiority over Iraq when Iran is hostile to us and Iraq is desperate for help.

[skeeter]

It’ll be a helluva lot more expensive to maintain the no-fly without bases in Iraq proper. Bases that we already have.