How many soldiers have you lost in Iraq now? 3000+. The United Kingdom has lost 168 as of today
firstly.
http://icasualties.org/oif/default.aspx
US body count = 3774
UK body count = 169
this site details a little more, (though it's 1 number out on the US side, - I guess another guy died since it was written)
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/
this has deaths since time,
http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/ (3635 people died since Bush announced Mission accomplished!)
(though I ate using Wikipedia as reference)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Iraq_War_Coalition_troop_deployment
US has 250,000 soldiers deployed since war start
UK has 45,000 since war start,
the UK has less troups in Iraq,
since the war start 1.5% of US soldiers have died (with november 2004 being the statistical worst month for the US -137 dead)
since the war start 0.3% of UK soldiers have died (with March 2003 being the worst month for the UK - 27 dead)
statistically speaking the UK are five times better at staying alive, (that's not five times better - though most brits would like to think it meant that).
Also! remember deployment position plays much larger part in the death toll as well,
(aside from the whole damn place being dangerous) the US has more dangerous areas (like the whole north of the country) whilst the UK has the statistically most dangerous (Basra + Hellmann province), though (as I was told by a friend serving out there) the British soldiers are more concerned with training the Iraqi army now than gaining ground.
sadly, no-one is able to say (for sure) who is the better army,
I've pointed out, back up with facts and figures that Americans serving in Iraq are 5 times more likely to die (statistically) than their brit counterparts... now you have to examin possible reasons.
over stretching? -US cover more land so even with >5 times more soldiers they could be undermanned
incompetence?
under-trained?
under-equipped?
poor leadership? (military rather than political)
to get a straight who is better you have to look at more than who died or how many died.
you have to look at who they were fighting, who the combatants were trained by, how many died, how many are there, the terrain they fight on, their weapons. command and command experience...
Britain does have the most advanced war ship at present, (HMS Daring)