And so to February, during which it has been forecast that America would launch its war on Iraq. And so it might. Even as I write, I’m conscious that each day might be the one. That’s how it was when the Gulf war broke out, and that’s how it was in Afghanistan.

Certainly, the leaked outlines of the American war plan suggests that the process has gone too far to be stopped now. They tell of electromagnetic attacks, cruise missiles and armoured invasions. There is even mention of a nuclear option.

The leaks are described in some newspapers as a softening up process, a psychological war designed to unnerve the Iraqi people and especially their armed forces. The hope is that they will decide they’ve suffered enough for Saddam Hussein and will rise up against him, thus obviating the need for a ground war and street fighting in Baghdad and the inevitable body-bags flying home to the USA.