See my previous post. It was in August, 2003. As soon as possible after we secured Iraq.
So technically, we didn't actually leave the Arabian peninsula entirely. We apparently still have those 500 in Saudi (likely training and liason and tech support troops for their military) and the 4500 at the Qatar base, a friendly westernized Gulf Oil state but not considered by Muslims to be a part of the Saudi holy lands. Qatar is simply not considered provocative because it is a rich decadent state that has no great part in Muslim history, certainly nothing remotely comparable to the cities of Mecca and Medina and the many other holy sites in Saudi Arabia.
On February 27, it was announced that the US would be allowed to launch warplanes from its bases inside Saudi Arabia, to support the Iraq War - and would in turn begin a phased withdrawal from the country.[1]
On April 29, Donald Rumsfeld announced that he would be withdrawing US troops from the country stating that the Iraq War no longer required the support. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz had earlier said that the continuing US presence in the kingdom was putting American lives in danger. The announcement came one day after the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) was shifted from Prince Sultan Air Base to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
The move was controversial, as some said that it was a needless contingent that only enraged Muslim populations, while others said that the United States were caving to the demands of Osama bin Laden, whose key demand throughout on-going al-Qaeda attacks was that the US must withdraw its forces from the region.
U.S. officials transferred control of portions of Prince Sultan Air Base to Saudi officials at a ceremony on 26 August 2003. The base had been home to about 60,000 US personnel over time.
Roughly 4,500 US troops were redeployed from Saudi Arabia to Qatar, leaving about 500 in Saudi Arabia, primarily at Eskan Village.
United States withdrawal from Saudi Arabia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[I'm flagging a few others to this and my previous post. I think many people listening to the debate did not really grasp what is meant by the term "Arabian peninsula".