This post interested me:

It's from the website of Susan Daniel, soprano and rose expert:

He was a 24 year old [British soldier] returned from Iraq and preparing to train for Afghanistan.

I asked about armour. "Why" he said, "do they spend the money training us from scratch for 6 months, and then send us out on patrol without sufficient protection, particularly on foot patrol and tank duty?"

Food:- "We get two meals, sausage and beans like you get in a tin, and the other is potato and meatballs, though there aren't many of those, and we pour hot water on it."

"Veg? Dairy? Fruit? I asked. "You need protein 3 times a day." "That's it" he said, "sometimes they top us up with Lucozade stuff." ...

No one has told them why they are there.

"Many get very shaky"......"Do you have any help with that?.....The Padre?" "Yes, but there's a two week wait to see him....

He had spent his first two weeks in Iraq in the same clothes, and his first six weeks in split boots. "The Americans are REALLY well provided, fed and armoured. They have visors to protect their eyes against the sand."

He had had to buy his own, smart blue tracksuit for himself....the one that I had noticed with his regimental crest.

While I am happy that American soldiers are well fed and well equipped, it makes me sad that the British soldiers who fight bravely by our side are not. Do the British public and the British government care? Perhaps not.

I've always loved England and felt a great kinship with them. Our laws and customs, while different from theirs, are derived from English laws and customs. But nowadays they seem to have lost their nerve. Sad.

And with the continuing slights the Brits have received from our leadership, I am surprised they still carry on supporting us.