So, Condy Rice has sought to end the speculation that gathered pace this week over the possible future conflict with Iran. She said that there is no plan to strike the country. At the moment.

This takes us back to the numerous stories after September 11th 2001 which had senior US figures stating "No plan to invade Iraq. Unilaterally." and "We're going to foster a revolution over there".

For what it's worth (not very much at all) - my hunch is an attack and possible invasion by 2007. Either they will have managed to pull troops out of Iraq (unlikely, but it would be good), or they will seek to reintroduce the military draft, as has been rumoured for the last year or so.

Either way, Iran is a more definite target than Iraq ever was, given that there is genuine reason to believe that it might sponsor terrorism and that it does seem to be trying to build a nuclear weapon. Additionally, what with embassy closures and strong words/bullets exchanged frequently over the last 25 years, it is fair to say that Iran has been a potential target for much longer than Iraq ever was. On the other hand, the US and UK bombed Iraq for 10 years before invading it - just to make sure. And they haven't even started bombing Iran yet. Thinking about it, maybe Iraq was just a sort of rehearsal for Iran?