Nobody really knows how the war is going, partly because our governments lie

One of the paradoxes of this war is that most of us do not have very much idea of what is going on. That is at any rate what I feel. There are hundreds of brave and talented journalists in Iraq who address us every hour of the day and night on television, and fill untold acres of newsprint in the press. But although I have spent countless hours slumped on my sofa watching the box (last night I tore myself away from Fox News at two o’clock in the morning), and almost as much time poring over the newspapers, the fog of war clings to me wherever I go. As I write, we don’t know whether Saddam Hussein is alive or dead. The media seem momentarily to have lost interest in the progress of our magnificent soldiers around Basra. The battle of Baghdad, which ten days ago we were told by the press was about to begin, may, or may not, be cranking into action.