So how do you like that for timing? Just 25 minutes after I hit the sack, Dubya pressed the button. Maybe, like Dunc suggests, George was just waiting for me to call it a day.

Whatever, from what I've gathered this morning, what happened last night wasn't really the start of the war proper. It was more like pre-war, military foreplay. Sounds like the CIA knew where Saddam was and tried to take him out in one quick strike. And in the very best tradition of the Agency, they missed.

I'm actually quite sad they failed to kill Saddam last night. Not that I ever wish death on any single person, but if he'd died, this could all have been over so much quicker, possibly saving tens of thousands of lives. And the knowledge of that is more frustrating than anything.

But by looking at our site, and other news outlets, one can tell the war hasn't really started yet. After all, there's room for other news items most everywhere you look, the military aren't briefing, and I've not been called into work despite being on the list of war volunteers. And of course the one statement to have come out of the British army is that "while hostilities have taken place, this isn't the start of the war" - one of the strangest quotes of the morning that only scratches the surface of the story.

Keep your powder dry. There's much worse to come.