[bongodriver]

From a German's perspective, however, it seems to be some kind of "popular culture" to constantly harp on about "the war". It's everywhere, in football, in the yellow press, in some of these mindless chants ... To me it does leave the impression that Great Britain is nowadays nothing more than a little poor island full of sad people who have nothing to be happy about and so they bring up times long gone whenever appropriate and especially when not.

All I ask is that people don't generalise and use these examples as what Britain is all about, I fail to see the difference in that and what the British are accused of.

And as for the British Empire I am absolutely convinced the only reason the colonies were given independence after WW2 is that GB no longer could afford the costs (political, military and especially financially) to keep them occupied and to suppress the local drive for independence. Otherwise GB might have found itself in the same position as France with the nasty wars in Indochina and Algeria.

Quite....but what about the ones who havent become independent? what is the massive gun we are holding to their heads?