The Obama Administration is busy doing a victory lap because all troops will be brought home from Iraq by the end of the year. But Foreign Policy reminds us that that wasn’t the plan — in fact, Obama had no intention of bringing them home by the year’s end. They’re only coming home when they are because he bungled negotiations with the Iraqis.

The Obama administration is claiming it always intended to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of this year, in line with the president’s announcement today, but in fact several parts of the administration appeared to try hard to negotiate a deal for thousands of troops to remain — and failed.

“I can report that as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year. After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over,” President Barack Obama said today, after speaking with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. “The last American soldier will cross the border out of Iraq with their held — heads held high, proud of their success, and knowing that the American people stand united in our support for our troops. That is how America’s military efforts in Iraq will end.”

Deputy National Security Advisors Denis McDonough and Tony Blinken said in a White House briefing that this was always the plan.

“What we were looking for was an Iraq that was secure, stable, and self reliant, and that’s what we got here, so there’s no question that was a success,” said McDonough, who traveled to Iraq last week.

But what about the extensive negotiations the administration has been engaged in for months, regarding U.S. offers to leave thousands of uniformed soldiers in Iraq past the deadline? It has been well reported that those negotiations, led by U.S. Ambassador James Jeffrey, Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and White House official Brett McGurk, had been stalled over the U.S. demand that the remaining troops receive immunity from Iraqi courts.

Indeed, the Obama Administration intended to leave thousands of troops in Iraq into next year. But they screwed up the negotiations and the Iraqis demanded earlier withdrawal. That’s why our troops are coming home early — because Obama screwed up the execution of his plan, not because that was the plan all along.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Our troops must always maintain immunity from local laws, and since Iraq refuses to cooperate I support their removal — even if I believe that will leave the country less stable and more prone to failure in the long run. I’m utterly unwilling to sacrifice the immunity of our troops just to stay longer.

However, the Obama Administration should says as much, rather than pretending as if this was the plan from the get-go. It wasn’t. Iraq made absurd demands, refused to allow further occupation when we wouldn’t agree to those demands, the negotiations fell apart, and now we’re coming home early. It wasn’t some grand Obama plan to bring the boys home by Christmas. Pretending it was ignores reality.