Isn't it quite telling that everytime someone steps up to answer their little calls to jihad they duck for cover? I am in agreement with you, a Fallujah style operation is full well warranted and it might just come to that in Sadr city.
I would point out though that seeing them stand down would be quite beneficial from the perspective of presenting quick gains demonstrating progress.
Here is the basic standoff as I see it. They say 'you leave and we stop blowing up bombs'. We say 'no, you stop blowing up bombs and we will leave'. This is where the 'surge' comes in. W upped the anty with a third option. More bombs means more soldiers come in.
Sadr should be a dead man but us taking that step, as opposed to Iraqi forces taking that step, creates it's own set of problems. From that perspective, getting them to stand down in this way could prove to be quite positive. Especially if we can cut of the Iranian money and supply lines that afford him and his thugs the ability to cause so much trouble.
I could have it pegged wrong but I think major progress is afoot. I think Democrats and even some fool Republicans are about to regret their current and past positions big time.
I could be wrong but I don't think any war, be it a civil internal war or a war between two countries has ever ended in any kind of lasting peace by having the two or more parties fight to a stand still or fight to the bargaining table. The only lasting peace and civil order that comes from it happens when one of the parties prevails over the other by making the other party realise that anything other than surrender is unbearable. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean that we should side with the majority shiites over the minority sunnis but that we should side with all pro govt peoples over all anti govt forces. If a roadside bomb goes of, we level a quarter mile radius around where it went off. If a sniper fires from a rooftop we level the block. See how fast people start turning on the insurgents. If a death squad member is caught then the block he comes from is leveled. Same goes for police caught aiding and abetting the enemy. The people will become very peaceful and cooperative or their towns will become very flat.