WHATEVER the tactics of the "war against terror" - from flattening whole countries to installing concrete blocks - the rhetoric against it comes from a vanished era.

Our leaders still respond with echoes of Churchill in the Second World War. After the Instanbul consulate bombing Tony Blair spoke of "confronting this menace... attacking it wherever and whenever we can... and defeating it utterly". His words almost imply an army ranged against us somewhere that we can seek out, fight and overcome "utterly". Then the war ends.

Of course we and Tony Blair know that the war on terror is not remotely like that. The enemy is unseen and could be anywhere. Its troops might number less than the Green Howards. And yet, on present trends, there seems unlikely to be any shortage of replacements for terrorists captured, killed or sacrificing themselves.

Indeed, the evidence is that the number of terrorists prepared to blow themselves to bits to commit extreme acts of terror is growing. The US and Britain - largely - have laid waste Afghanistan and Iraq. Meant to be eliminated by the Afghan offensive, al Qaida is still active. Previously free from terrorism except by its vicious despot, Iraq is now riddled with it. And the ever more heavy-handed response seems bound to breed more.

It hardly needs an Einstein to recognise that the real solution to terrorism is political. But this goes beyond the difficult task of settling Middle East conflicts. The US, especially, must learn to present a less imperious and often rapacious face to the world.

But, perhaps crucially, defeating terror "utterly" also comes down to each of us avoiding racism, but instead attempting to understand other cultures alongside our own. Simple friendliness among people is probably the surest way to deprive terrorists of the community support and recruits on which they depend.

But there will remain fanatics bent on achieving a Muslim-fundamentalist world. I often think there is too much nostalgia in Britain over the Second World War. The thought crosses my mind that another world war might more than satisfy our apparently endless desire to re-run the last one.

Well, we've got another world war now. There will be bloodshed here, and perhaps many bloodless deaths far more sinister. But the rallying cry of We Shall Fight on the Beaches has almost no part to play in securing victory.

WHILE I wouldn't wish to take anything away from England's triumph in rugby's World Cup final, and I yield to no one in admiration of Jonny Wilkinson's immortal last-minute drop goal, I didn't share the general euphoria over the team's progress to the final.

Rugby is meant to be about running with the ball. It was to encourage this that the number of points for a try was raised from three to five some years ago. Taken on the move and often under pressure, drop goals add variety and excitement. But to me it is never satisfactory for a game to be won largely on place kicks, especially penalties.

Against the spirit of today, I don't take the view that winning is everything. A good game is everything.

A FINAL footnote - perhaps - on George Bush's presidential State visit. Is Mrs Bush the only western woman who never seems to carry a handbag?