World awaits Iraq: the sequel

“JUST two hours ago, Allied air forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait. These attacks continue as I speak. Ground forces are not engaged.”

With those words, George Bush, 41st president of the United States, announced to the world that war had begun. It was January 17, 1991, 4.30am Baghdad time, 8pm in Washington.

With the exclusion of the reference to Kuwait, they could well be the same words George W Bush, 43rd occupant of the Oval Office, will use in the next few days or even hours to tell the world all guns are blazing again.