Why is he allowed to get away with this?

ZAKARIA: But you could imagine a situation where, if the Iraqi government wanted it, 30,000 American troops are still in 10 years from now.

OBAMA: You know, I have been very careful not to put numbers on what a residual force would look like. What I am absolutely convinced of is that, to maintain permanent bases, to have ongoing combat forces, to have an open-ended commitment of the sort that John McCain and George Bush have advocated, is a mistake. It is a strategic mistake.

In other words, he’s trying to leave things open-ended because it’s a mistake to leave things . . . open-ended.