PRIME Minister Tony Blair admitted last night that the war in Iraq might well go on for a long, long time.

The only surprise to us is that his frank assessment appears to have come as a surprise to millions of onlookers - and not a few military commanders in the field.

We offered the view on Monday that the first few days of conflict had proved the futility of wishful thinking that it would be a swift business.

The days since don't seem to have brought much in the way of change. Take today's despatches from the battlezone, for example.

Basra's nowhere near being under Allied control, as had been reported.

And were the British soldiers whose bodies were paraded on Iraqi TV executed or not? The family of one of the two victims has cause to doubt.

The information feeding our thoughts from a mish-mash of sources - London, Washington, Kuwait, the 'embedded' media with the troops - arguably represents a smallportion of the picture. But how much of that is misinformation, propaganda or uncheckable rumour anyway?

Earlier this week, BBC stalwart David Dimbleby fronted an expert-filled programme speculating on how the rest of the war might go - after less than a week of action! What was the point?

At this early stage, it's not worth risking morale in our family homes by trying to form a view on whether the war's going to plan or not.

On Monday, we reflected that war remains Private Ryan, not PlayStation. The sooner we accept that, the better.