Clowns in a VW bug

Do you remember the old circus act where the clowns emerged from the VW bug one at a time one after another after another after another after another, on and on? The "surge" may turn out to be something like that. The "surge" is about to expand beyond the 21,500 originally proposed. Now, we're up to as many as 28,500. Tomorrow, who knows?

The US could send an extra 7,000 troops to implement President George Bush's controversial Iraqi security plan, it emerged last night as the country suffered one of its worst recent days of bloodshed when at least 110 Shia Muslim pilgrims were killed and scores more injured. Most died in Hilla, south of Baghdad, in a twin suicide bombing blamed on Sunni extremists.

Gordon England, deputy secretary of defence, revealed that army commanders were requesting reinforcements beyond the 21,500 personnel already earmarked for the so-called "surge" into the capital.

"At this point, our expectation is the number of ... troops could go above 21,500 by about 4,000, maybe as many as 7,000," the official told the House of Representatives Budget committee in Washington.

The problem with the analogy, of course, is that somebody who ran the circus knew where the clowns came from.