This strategy favored by the 'neocon' crowd sure gets results. Not good results, but results nonetheless! The thinking goes, first we flood Baghdad with 20-30,000 additional US troops so that the Iraqi parliament can safely secure passage of a new oil law that will open Iraq for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies. Then, we throw it all up!

The net result will be a temporarily tamed Baghdad and 30-year contracts for big oil companies like BP, Shell and Exxon to extract Iraqi crude, and the first large-scale operation of foreign oil interests in the country since the industry was nationalized in 1972. Under this new law, oil companies will be allowed to take up to 75 per cent of the profits until they have recouped their initial drilling costs. After that, they'll collect about 20 per cent of all profits, about twice the industry average for such deals. Sweet!

Of course there are fears that the eventual withdrawl of American troops means that oil companies won't be able to continue to exploit a weak Iraq. Not to worry! These favorable terms can't be changed in the future, and enough American troops will remain behind in permanent bases to allow us to indefinitely continue to control Iraq's destiny.

Hey, you say, 'surge 'n purge' sounds kinda like what killed Karen Carpenter! That it won't make us look pretty, nor will it make us lean and strong. That it'll just make us gaunt with our skin hanging down, while we keep thinking we're fat. That we'll never reach our goal, whatever it is! Plus, we'll stink!

A much better approach is to figure out how much energy we need to sustain our lean mass while avoiding highly processed fossil fuels -- and head thataway. Then, with proper exercise, we'll look and feel beautiful!

If we are tempted to 'surge 'n purge,' stop! Let's talk to someone like Wesley Clark...or retired defense intelligence officer for the Middle East W. Patrick Lang...'surge 'n purge' won't help us in any way!