Gen Wesley Clark (ret), former Nato supreme allied commander:

Britain is highly respected in the United States, and even on the occasion when much of the American public came to doubt the wisdom of the invasion of Iraq, the support and loyalty of Great Britain has always been appreciated.

Britain did an admirable job in applying the lessons of its considerable experience in peacekeeping and peace operations, and even nation building, to the situation in southern Iraq. I know that the United States' officers and soldiers have nothing but the highest respect and admiration for the British military.

Britain's traditional role has always been to be the strongest power in Europe, and the transatlantic link, and I think Britain's effective military campaigns in both Iraq and Afghanistan have strengthened that role, solidified its position and given it greater prominence and leadership authority in the world. The strength of the transatlantic linkage between us and Britain is one of the principle foundations of modern diplomacy and the economic order that we live in.

Jon Soltz, chairman of veterans' organisation Votevets.org, who served as a US army captain in Iraq:

I don't think [the British] did the thing strategically in the war on terror. Tony Blair, more than anybody else in the world, had a tremendous amount of credibility if he wanted to stop this thing. Militarily, the Americans didn't technically need the British with them. The British role militarily, after the invasion, was minimal. To start this war off, Tony Blair was in as good a position as anybody in the world to say this is not the right thing for us to do. Without the perception of the British standing with George Bush it would have been much harder for the United States to kick this thing off.

There aren't that many militaries today that are infrastructurally prepared to fight warfare in the 21st century. The British military can stand toe-to-toe with the American military in its combat power and the professionalism of the force. People in Britain need to understand that - how much the American military appreciates the professionalism and expertise.

People see Britain as a poodle of America. [But] we really do think very highly of the British military at a young officer level, because they can fight with us. There's no better army in the world to fight with than the UK.

Dr Mustafa Alani, Gulf Research Centre, Dubai, UAE:

The British government's decision to be the main partner of the US in the invasion of Iraq was a disaster. It was based on the mistaken belief that it was going to be profitable politically, morally, strategically, and economically. No consideration was given to the possibility that it could fail, or that the US could marginalise Britain. It was a tragic case of self-deception to think that Bush would treat the British as equals. Britain emerged as a full partner in crimes against the Iraqi people, as well as sharing the financial and human cost of those crimes. But it was a discredited and powerless partner.

Britain had no spare military capacity to carry out its mission in Iraq. In the area under UK control, criminal groups, militias and Iranian intelligence agents operated under the noses of British forces. They were overstretched and suffered from a lack of manpower, equipment, authority and clear objectives. Their mission was hopeless and thankless.