Bad Days for the British Army

The British Army handed over Basra to the U.S. military yesterday, though cynics would argue it effectively ceded responsibility years ago -- or at least when U.S. units supported Iraqi Army units in 2008 while the British stayed in their bases, mostly stewing at not being allowed to fight by London. The British experience in Basra has been a humbling one for a proud institution. And now the British Army -- asking for more troops for Afghanistan -- has been told "no" by Gordon Brown.

Anyone else sense the British military is enjoying less cordial relations with its civilian overseers than the U.S. military is these days?