"Also, Gbaikie, Assuming we *want* continued military presence in the M.E., where would we base the troops if not in Iraq or Saudi Arabia?"

The main reason to base troops is to counter other armies, in which the host country is unable or unwilling raise it's own effective army. Another relate issue is to have army which is forward deployed- allowing fast reinforcement if area is threaten. This type of thinking is largely a result of the Cold War. Some or all of it is "baggage" which at least requires re-thinking. The short answer is we don't want to have any military presence in the middle east. Nor do we want to have our military force in Europe. Or in Asia. But there is such a thing as a power vacuum- it might be wiser to be cautious rather than do anything which might start another World War.
And sometimes in life you have to do things which you would rather not do.

[btw I was replying to the rest of your post, but I accidently deleted it. I don't like repeating myself (it resemble work- something I rather not do:); so this is all you get:].