Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

Bah! The British forces have been a token force in Iraq since the war started nearly four years ago (3/20/03). Their current massive 7,100 member force has mostly been protecting their own barracks (plans have already been announced to cut their troops to 5,500 in the near future as a prelude to their ultimate withdrawal).

True, the British have lost something like 134 soliders so far in Iraq, the vast majority being enlisted personnel. On average, more police officers die in the U.S. each year than that.

The U.S. population is approximately five times greater that the U.K., yet we have twenty times as many troops in combat and have suffered fatalities at approximately 30 times the number which British troops have.

In fairness to the UK, they represent more than 50% of the non-US coalition.

The raw truth is the idea of a "coalition" is, and has always been a facade, to create an illusion to the American people that we have allies helping us in Iraq, when in fact no other country besides Britain ever had more than 3,300 troops (that would be South Korea, which likes to keep its troops battle ready - they are now down to 2,300 troops, with plans to withdraw 1,100 additional troops in the near future).

Prince Harry in Iraq represents a greater threat to his fellow troops by being a high value target, instead of being any kind of a difference maker in the war and the future of Iraq. If nothing else, I hope that he gets dusted up a little, and comes away with some practical knowledge about the stupidity of the leadership in the US and UK that have brought our countries to this point.

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