There comes a time, in every colonial and military occupation, when a simple act of defiance puts it on notice. It is downhill after that. Often it is not recognised until years later. In India, it was the Dandi salt march in 1930, 17 years later, it was independent. In Vietnam, the Vietcong, during the Tet offensive 1968, briefly captured Saigon, seven years later, the United States was defeated.

In Iraq, it was the return of the former Saddam generals, in their old uniforms, and the old Iraqi national flag, invited to take over security in Fallujah, after the marines walked into unexpected resistance from the locals, the two generals it chose promptly declared their arrival as a defeat for the US.

There would be more confrontations like this. But the Saddam forces and the flag is a powerful rallying cry now. It would, if not already, in time be the sign of the resistance to US control. All the US can do from now on is to adjust itself to more concessions and defeats like this. And whether it likes or not, it is now a big player in the drama in Iraq, with the capacity to do much damage but little else. It would see its coalition partners slip away as they in turn are targetted for their role in Iraq.