Fletcher, yes your post-Thatcher political establishment has been terribly uneven, but the military core was excellent at all-out war just yesterday, in the Falklands. Goose Green was an especially clear statement of martial valor & professionalism. Things can’t change that much, that fast, that that core would fail to be ever ready. Forget that crap with the RN and IRG a few months ago –it was a set-up by a very crafty and patient foe, and was perfectly calculated by the perfectly calculating Persians to create self-disgust in the west. No target of a surprise attack escapes unhurt –it just ain’t in the cards. Round II is what counts.