I find it fascinating that Team Bush is going after Sadr right now. The entire reason they scheduled the 'handover' for when they did was to take Iraq off TV screens for the election.
Now they're attacking Najaf, and Iraq is back on TV screens. What gives?
I assume the strategy is that they think it will benefit them if they can capture/kill Sadr leading into the RNC. And they may well be right about that politically.
But it's a very high-risk strategy. A lot can go wrong, and they've put those unpleasant pictures back on TV. I take it all as an indication of just how desperate Team Bush is right now.