I think Iraq will be much calmer in a couple of years or so but I can't say for certain if our next President is willing to commit our troops in there.
We've got to pull the weeds if we want the country to grow. My brother was in Afghanistan he told me of the bartering you would have to do with the warlords because they had their own armies. IMHO, Al Sadr has a huge following, by taking him out and I mean out, not put him in jail, all are afraid of the backlash of his followers because of his martyrdom. But, hey obviously you cannot have any kind of cohesiveness if you have someone like this working against you. I say cut the head off of the snake, when someone else takes over, do it again, and again and again. Eventually they'll get the picture. Watching your leaders get capped consistantly would get real old.