Further to your note – unfortunately this sort of problem will crop up on an increasingly regular basis. What you’ve written is an intriguing assessment. I’m sure they will take a pretty sharp approach to it as you’ve been fairly outspoken on the matter. Personally, I doubt whether your literary efforts will be appreciated. As to your other point – you’d have to be circumspect because once the announcement was made it could be seen as a deliberate leak.

Such forecasts are as reliable as reading tea leaves or tarot. Different analysts have markedly different perspectives. The US has been on a high state of alert and they are taking it very seriously indeed. I am not so sure how you acclimatise the public to such a reality.

The future is a perverse topic that catches us out more times than it proves us right. But that’s no reason to resile from having to think about it, then act upon it. They are not picking a fight with Iraq. Nobody is giving up on the option of reaching a peaceful solution but how long do you give them? It would be suicidal to do nothing. Militarily they are preparing to use force and however unpalatable it may be they are preparing for it. As to your comment, France has its own dark little secrets, and their own hidden agenda which explains their reluctance.

The need to address the future is upon us all, as old themes intensify and new challenges come out of nowhere. I agree, it makes good sense to prepare for whatever happens. Since 9/11 the landscape has been reshaped and uncertainty increased. We now live in a time of rapid discontinuous change that is characterised by uncertainty, complexity, paradox and instability. Certainly I feel a general sense of unease, that all is not as it should be and that there is something out there, somewhere, something so appalling that many will suffer. Can it be stopped? I’m not sure, but the one thing I do know is that it exists and that those you’ve mentioned will not hesitate to go beyond the normal boundaries of morality - this reason alone leaves us little choice.