You go big. You go long and I'll hit one of you behind the Mazda.

There are signs that George Bush is already shying away from the Baker option. Perhaps last week's Newsweek "Father Knows Best" cover story about the President relying on Dad and Dad's mates having to bail him out again had something to do with it.

Yesterday the Washington Post reported details of a new Pentagon strategy document that seems to offer a confusing plethora of options. Sounding a bit like the quarterback in a game of street (American) football there are three primary approaches on offer:

• "Go big" - send more American troops to Iraq until they outnumber the native Iraqis and Halliburton has built more McDonalds, Burger Kings and Pizza Huts than there are halal butcher shops.
• "Go long" - send some American troops home but those that remain stay longer thereby justifying the expense of building those not-so-temporary military bases.
• "Go home - your dinner's almost ready" - aka "cut and run" - fuck off out of there and now - the option seemingly preferred by the majority of Americans and is therefore likely to be ignored by their leaders.