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Liberation.
He uttered a simple four word phrase yesterday "open war until liberation" which has just redefined and reframed everything.
All the Pentagon retired Generals etc can go on as many TV shows to spout pre-prepared pro-invasion talking points as much as they like and they can't change what's just been changed. America is now fighting people fighting for liberation from America. How's any American General going to sell that concept?
Al Sadr has declared his armies will be fighting a war of liberation, specifically a war until liberation.
That has now given the entire Iraq scenario a fixed specific objective. Right down to the very day it will be achieved - Liberation Day.
How long has Bush said America will stay in Iraq? As long as it takes. Unless Bush can now define what he means by "it", then "it" has now been defined as liberation. And how long will it take to achieve liberation? As long as it takes, by all historical indications.
An objective the USA must now counter to justify continued presence and occupation, ie, prevent liberation. The USA must now stay until all liberationists are totally eliminated or suppressed and the US-backed govt is fully in control. Or paint liberationists as 'terrorists' or 'sectarians' etc to diminish them and infer they are fighting someone else.
Sadr just changed everything and redefined the whole war.
UPDATE: middleagedhousewife has posted in the comments that she had heard this being spun on NPR as Sadr wanting liberation from the central govt alone, not the USA, and hence civil war. So the news story is still hot off the wire and they're already putting the 'sectarian' spin angle on it, which of course would require continued humanitarian US occupation to protect the Iraqi people from themselves.