The 51st State

Brigadier James Bashall, the commander of 1 Mechanised Brigade, has told the Daily Telegraph that British troops could have come out of Basra Palace in April, had there not been intense U.S. pressure on them to stay in the exposed outpost. The five month delay cost the lives of 11 British soldiers: a further 62 have been wounded in months of intense fighting.
It's clear that a tiny, unrepresentative group of neo-cons in Washington, none of whom have ever served in the military, determine not only when British armed forces go into action, but also when they are allowed to withdraw from action.
Clearly, Britain is no longer an independent country. But as serious as the loss of sovereignty to the EU and its institutions is, it pales into insignificance compared to the way we have allowed our foreign policy to be decided in Washington.