'Actually, they've been up against amateurs for decades - people of the same skin color and religion who killed a few dozen Brits a year for roughly the last 100 years. We're up against professionals who were good enough to take down the entire 9-building World Trade Center complex and a sizable chunk of the Pentagon.'
Your ignorance is breathtaking. You think the IRA were the amateurs and Al Quaeda are the 'professionals'? Where do you think Al Quaeda learned it's stock in trade from? From it's meetings in 1993 and 1994 with IRA training units in the Libyan desert, that's where. The IRA were kind enough to sell Al Quaeda the skills it needed for 911 in return for weapons and cash. Ironic that all the money sent from the US to support the IRA terrorists during the 80's and 90's returned home with interest on 911.
'Brits are lousy at guerrilla warfare unless they're fighting a few thousand people with surplus weapons. This is why they were mauled and pulled out of Iraq during the 1930's.'
Your knowledge of history is shocking - do you work in Hollywood? :D
Britain successfully invaded Iraq in 1914 and ruled it relatively peacefully until 1930 when when democratic elections took place and Britain signed a treaty with Iraq which would lead to it's independence in return for Oil. In 1932 Iraq becomes independent but still with strong British influence under King Faisal. He dies and his son takes over along with much interference from the Pan-arabists until he dies in 1939 which leads to a 4 week war in 1941 which sees the British regain full control and form a pro-British govt. In 1943 pro-British Iraq declares war on the Axis powers. Britain only left Iraq and closed it's bases there in 1955 following the baghdad pact.
'Note that British empire is basically a thing of the past. Uncle Sam took most of North America and is still in control of all of it. The Brits lost the heart for this kind of thing a long time ago, and they're projecting their defeatism onto Uncle Sam.'
Have you told the Canadians you control all of North America? :D We lost so much heart that SAS troops were first into Iraq in 1991 and first into Afghanistan. The Yanks lost the heart for war when they lost to a bunch of paddy-field farmers in Vietnam and since then they have been projecting their defeatism onto John Bull. ;-)
It seems one of your fellow Britons on this board strongly disagrees with you over the approach of the current British Army. ;-)