word choice - "work"?

I heard a brief snippet of the president's speech yesterday, and this one passage really struck me:

In Anbar, the enemy remains active and deadly. Earlier today, one of the brave tribal sheikhs who helped lead the revolt against al Qaeda was murdered. In response, a fellow Sunni leader declared: “We are determined to strike back and continue our work.” And as they do, they can count on the continued support of the United States.

I know the Bush administration is adept at using every and all words to win the PR war about Iraq, but I'm interested in this supposed word choice from the Sunni leader - "continue our work". I'd like to hear, read, "see" the exact words from the leader.

I understand the war in Iraq to be time-consuming, financial, and repetitive, but this is not a 9-5. Would struggle, fight, or even war be more pertinent? Do we lessen the stigma of war by calling it work? Are fatalities more acceptable? Can we justify/cope with a long war by calling it work? Americans love work - just look at our vacations compared to European counterparts. We are used to working a lot. And we like to finish jobs.

I'm curious with war as work. It kind of strips away all the idealism and romanticism with war, liberation, victory, etc. I'll take your response - and yours - and yours.