The Bush administration insisted that Iraq achieve various “milestones” – elections for which the country was not ready and completing a constitution in six weeks, to name two – simply to create the appearance of substantive achievements ahead of the 2004 presidential election or the 2006 mid-term elections. Similarly, the Obama administration is trying to force what it perceives as the easiest path to a new government in Iraq – even if it is pro-Iranian – not because it is in the US national interest, but to enable it to head for the exits more quickly in advance of the president’s re-election campaign.