Some of the special breakfast briefings in the White House are particularly interesting, honest and informative. I have avoided the normal Press Conferences, preferring the Special Briefings where only a handful of Government officials and few newsmen are invited. They take place first thing in the morning, some time before the staff arrives and are served with special care by the White House kitchen.

More than once we have found steaming dishes with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages and even sautéed filet of sole. The croissants are always warm and as tasty as those at the Ritz in Paris. The sessions are informal and do not follow a rigid agenda. It is also a strictly 'off the record' event.

The session this morning appeared especially interesting. The President showed up right after having done his 5 miles of jogging around the grounds, and was still wearing his training suit. He seemed eager to give us some news.

"Gentlemen, exactly three months ago, all of you were ready to put the noose on my neck and do a Saddam Hussein exercise with yours truly. The Democrats and some Republicans, plus 68 percent of Americans repudiated my policies, my speeches, my looks and my strategies on the Iraq War. The newspapers wrote about 65 million words berating me, calling me evil, the worst president the country has ever had and the man responsible for the death of thousands of our young people. Talk about impeachment, dismissal, retirement, trial and other equally drastic procedures directed at me, were bandied about in schools, bus stations, military posts, monasteries, bars, stadiums, convents and on every Web Site that thrives on sensationalism. Gentlemen, that was three months ago!"

As an opening statement, it not only grabbed our attention but shook our complacency, especially after one of those nourishing and delightful breakfasts.

"So?" Someone in back had the nerve to let go of such impolite, if not insolent, query.

The President smiled and then let go of a loud guffaw. He wiped his face with the towel around his neck and replied:

"About an hour ago I received a message from Baghdad. The insurgents have capitulated and have agreed to the Prime Minister's proposal whereby they will nominate emergency action delegates to suppress all activity from Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. They have agreed to the distribution of revenues from the exploitation of oil and have also returned all arms, weapons and vehicles used in their criminal acts. Our troops, along with Iraqi soldiers have been busy gathering arms in all Iraqi provinces. The civilians have joined in helping the armed forces and are at this very moment celebrating the end of hostilities and a new era of peace. Dick Cheney was right; our troops are being greeted with flowers, doughnuts and bottles of Sarsaparrila "

He paused to sip some of the special blend of juices he terms Nucular Pep, made the usual contented 'ahhh!' and continued. Needless to say that the audience was in shock.

"Iran is sending a delegation to Washington to arrange the terms of a joint venture that will include Russia, China, the UN, the United States and France and will address the current controversy about nuclear weapons. Ahmadinejad has indicated that no nuclear weapons development will be allowed. Syria is also sending a delegation that wants to review the Lebanon situation and has also invited Egypt and Israel to participate. Israel has promised not to annex any more territories and has dropped the plans they had to start colonizing North Africa, Spain, Italy, Monaco and Norway.!"

"You mean that your surge for victory has worked?"

"Not only in the Middle East but also in North Korea, Somalia, Darfu, Yemen and even Mexico!"

"Mexico, Mister President?"

"Yup. They are finally going to regulate emigration seriously. Their Senate is talking about a surge to stop the surge"

"How about Britain? Why aren't they in the club?"

"They are the ones who made the mess in the Middle East in 1922 and are being punished for it. I happen to agree. Tony Blair was becoming a permanent fixture here and his accent is a bit annoying for a man of the Western plains like meself."

No one believed him three months ago! He had pulled the miracle of the decade if not the century. He asked one of his assistants to distribute a summary of what had transpired in the last 24 hours.

The assistant put the summary on my hands causing me to wake up.