The war between the Serbian army and the KLA existed two years before the bombing began. The doomed Treaty of Rambouillet was part of a process, not its conclusion. The tidal wave of ethnic cleansing and refugees did not begin until the bombing in March, and no evidence exists to suggest it did. On 12 January the German Foreign Office reported: "Even in Kosovo an explicit political persecution linked to Albanian ethnicity is not very visible The east of Kosovo is still not involved in armed conflict Public life in cities like Pristina... has, in the entire conflict period, continued on a relatively normal basis. The actions of the security forces were not directed against the Kosovo Albanians as an ethnically defined group but against the military opponent and its actual, or alleged, supporters."To discover cause, it is necessary to look at the words of war themselves and in particular the hyperbole that has accompanied the noise of conflict. Few opportunities have been lost for purple, vainglorious prose.

This has been "a war for the future of civilisation and democracy". The enemy is elevated from regional warlord to Lucifer himself. Into this strutting nonsense the vernacular of the Second World War ceaselessly intrudes, to the despair of rational minds. The tragic diaspora of refugees from ethnic expulsion bears no resemblance to the genocide of Auschwitz and Treblinka. To suggest that it does debases not only history but the language upon which reason itself is based. The torture chamber in Pristina, the graves from the Glogovac valley are awful but they are not Belsen or Ravensbruck. Direct comparisons diminish not only the Holocaust but also the integrity of thought.Associated with this political posture is an alarming conspiracy with the popular press inducing mutual excess of word and action.

The greater the evil and the more perilous the path, the greater the glories of the leader that confronts them. Battles for civilisation itself require Churchillian stature. This has been provided for the Prime Minister by the bellicose instinct of the tabloid press which requires its heroes, its princes and its Agincourts. In a war that has conspicuously failed to produce them in battle political leaders must be pressed into service. "Resolute," "iron-willed", "determined" or even "great" have provided an adjectival symphony to accompany the transparently messianic process through the huddled masses of refugees. Such journalism elevates itself to gospel while avoiding the painful analysis of fault.

In a doodlebug war from 15,000 feet that targets missiles upon helpless cities, there emerges a distinct lack of military saints to worship. Meanwhile in the House of Commons, ritual ministerial incantations on the bravery of our troops assume a hollow self-vaunting ring. Even the self-appointed Catos of the backbenches (Delenda est Serbia) absorb the uncomfortable truth that the sacrifice for this triumph was made by the villagers of Kosovo and the civilians of Belgrade. The Secretary of State for Defence standing upon an idle and unused tank provides an uncomfortable and embarrassing echo of Michael Portillo's attempted enlistment of the SAS to his own political cause.In the final analysis, if war is to be judged by its objectives, we have lost this war. But the true danger lies in the seminal change in the nature of warfare and the power it has created. At the height of the bombing General Wesley Clark observed "Milosevic must feel he is fighting God" No more appropriate metaphor could be employed.

Relentlessly to destroy cities without risk or siege is the ultimate, divine right which Machiavelli must have dreamed of, and the world is a more dangerous place than it has ever been, with capricious power firmly in the grasp of the personal, moral preference of princes.As these new gods gather on a new Olympus of G8, they might well ponder the words of the sage: "When Alexander saw the extent of his dominions, he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer."Bob Marshall-Andrews QC is Labour MP for Medway.. EVEN THE marauding horde of anti-capitalist demonstrators who caused mayhem on Friday in the City could not tarnish what had undeniably been a good week for financiers. The American retailer Wal-Mart had just announced a deal to buy Asda. Wal-Mart is the darling of Wall Street with 3,600 stores throughout the United States, stocking any product you could want and many you couldn't possibly. Its success has been built on that most sound of retailing principles - selling goods cheaper than everyone else. The prospect that Asda will benefit from Wal-Mart's proven savvy, not to mention the extravagant fees the deal will generate, had the bankers celebrating even as the angry mob smashed their windows and trashed their cars A good week for consumers, too, on the face of it.