Hoon: we have to find those weapons

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.