Reply #6: Another thing, and I don't know if Kerry mentions it or not,

[judy]

is to give back the rebuilding of Iraq and its infrastructure to Iraqi companies (no Bechtel nor KB&R, etc.), this would give people back their jobs and would greatly help with limiting attacks.

If the US was not there as occupier, but as a true peacekeeper (which excludes profiteering, racketeering,etc.) I think things would be quite different.

You could then make a deal with the different groups (Kurds, Sunnis, Shias, etc.) to create a common State owned company to manage the oil, if they can agree on a form of government and organize elections under the aegis of the UN.

Changing US Presidents in itself might go a long way toward calming things down if Kerry denounces empire building as a goal.