Mate, they're not just "America's adventures" - that is a very naive view: we (the Brits) galloped in wholeheartedly, just without (over time) the popular support of the nation and without the financial support required to be a world class power. Show me a squaddie (or Crab, or Matelot) who wasn't a bit excited about going to war. Or a politician who wasn't filled with reflected glory when committing the Forces.
Let's be honest - after 9/11, if we hadn't supported our closet ally to the hilt, how would 95%+ of us in the military have felt, watching the action from the sidelines? And how marginalised and insignificant would our Nation be now, in 2014/15, I wonder?
Again, in the name of honesty, let's speak truthfully. I fecking loved deploying to Afghan (on the ground and in the air): it was hyper exciting, thrilling and terrifying in equal measure. And as tragic as it was for some (seen at very close hand), I 'knew' it would never be my turn, and I loved it the more for it. But I, and all of us, knew it was for naught. But we went anyway. Because we love adventure.
And the UK Pollies who sit in a chair for perhaps 5 years love it too, be it Labour or Tory.
And what does that say about us all?