BRIEFING: "British forces in Afghanistan: And the soldier home from the hill; The British public honouring its fallen troops as never before. But for how long will it support the war in Afghanistan?" The Economist, 18 July 2009.

Time-wise, Britain's burden doesn't drop at all in the switch from Iraq to Afghanistan, and that troubles the British public.

Second problem: Brits suffer more deaths--meaning disproportionally--than the rest of the non-US troops in Afghanistan.

Eye-balling the chart: US deaths match our effort, as do Germany's and France's, but the Brits and Canadians suffer unduly. Who gets off? The "other" category of small nations, who tend to provide specialized units--as I understand it.

Add it all up and the US-UK-Can trio are suffering well over 80% of the deaths (again--eye-balling the chart).