they are right up there, that's for sure. along with us over here, they are widely regarded to have the best trained, best motivated and most experienced guys in the world. a strong case can be made that the SAS are hands down the best special operations force in the world. the royal marine commandos are the cream of the crop as far as amphibious forces are concerned. they have the 2nd best navy in the world and a top notch airforce.

now i already know that some are going to use that against me and say "and the ira beat them" blah, blah, blah. you guys do realize that the conflict in northern ireland was fought with political decisions in mind right? to put it bluntly, if we are talking a real war the brits could round up the whole country and put them in internment camps if they saw fit, or simply reduce the whole of ireland to a pile of rumble from the air.