My prediction is that the next election will sweep Muqtada al-Sadr to power and the Shi‘a majority will begin a full-scale repression of their Sunni and Kurdish minorities leading to a great deal of bloodshed. With Iran backing, the Shi’a will drive all opposition into hiding and Iraq will become a full-scale Iranian client state further destabilizing the region. Sooner or later, this will lead to a Arab war between the Shi‘a and Sunni states in the region as Iran attempts to expand its influence.

Was it worth nearly $1 trillion and the lives of 4,478 US troops, 550 contractors, and between 102,417 and 111,938 Iraqi civilian deaths to accomplish this?