They share three letters. SURGE. PAUSE. First our military wanted a surge, now they want a pause at the height of the surge, making the temporary amplification something more like an escalation. In fact, it’s forecast that US troop levels in Iraq will actually rise by the summer, as we head into the election. Probably for “the surge is working” refrain. So our surge has surged. This surge shares no similar properties to its namesake in electronics. Just as pause bears no similarity with the button on the TV remote. Hitting pause on a controller would halt the fast-forward mode. This pause actually locks us into the higher setting. General Sonofabitch is asking us for a LOCK on the troop gains he’d secured, from which he’ll be able to call a next surge.