The tin foil is strong in me at the moment: What if Obama wants a jihadist take over of Iraq to make Bush and Republicans who argue for a strong defense look bad?
Next election: “Do you really want to vote for a Republican who will continue to send troop around the world on no win missions like Iraq? Vote for the peace loving Dems like Elizabeth here.”
I don’t want to be engaged in wars when reprisals would be more effective.
That said, I don’t want enemies to gain any opportunity to attack the US. Obama has made it hard for democrats to argue that they are better on defense.