We could go and invade some country none of us has yet thought of and destroy the regime there while leaving the rest of the country intact. That is not quite how Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, put it when I interviewed him on Monday afternoon in the presence of three members of his staff, but it emerges clearly from what he said. Mr Hoon sees a world in which warfare has changed far more profoundly than most opponents of the Iraq campaign have yet understood, and in which amazing possibilities have opened up.
Question to Mr Hoon: ‘Can you reassure us that we won’t be taking part in any action against Syria or Iran?’
Mr Hoon: ‘Well I, er [slight laugh, suggesting he finds the question implausible], I’m not quite sure where these stories have come from, but I certainly have had no part in any planning or preparation for military action in relation to Syria or Iran.’
Question: ‘That slightly begs the question of what planning you have taken part in.’
Mr Hoon: ‘Well, for the moment at any rate I have had no part in any military preparations or planning for any conflict anywhere in the world. That is not to say that problems will not arise in the way that they did in relation to Afghanistan, for example, but as of today I am sure that I and other members of this department are looking for a period of calm and quiet reflection [general laughter].’
Question: ‘For how long?’
An official [amid further laughter]: ‘Indefinitely.’
Mr Hoon: ‘I think we’ve got to get things back to an even keel as far as the department is concerned, but, er, this department, as I have learnt in three and a half years, is driven by events.
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