That is a rediculous statement. All British military personnel I have worked with, including their officers, are top knotch individuals. Where did you come up with that one?
To state that the British presence in Basra and the south of Iraq was something to be proud of is absurd. Aside from personal knowledge of what was occuring there the British news is also aware of the terrible shortcomings. My info on the Brits in Afghanistan comes from a friend in intel who has been at Bagram off and on for four years. You have met some good Brits, fine. But an army needs more than a few good people; it needs commanders from the field to the command centers in the UK who have the commitment and the materiel to wage war.