What does the UK, France and the Netherlands have in common?

[Seamus Fermanagh]

It doesn't change the salient point. Start with the conclusion that Britain is to get a kicking, then set up the rules so that Britain is found to be in the wrong and needs a kicking, and tweak the rules so that Britain and only Britain gets a kicking. It's Calvinball.

I hear your point.

I was commenting on the apples/oranges factor of applying current moral and ethical standards to actions taken by people decades or centuries in the past when then-accumulated human wisdom established entirely different standards for evaluation. Would we evaluate the effectiveness of a Roman Legion by its comparative capability against the 82nd Airborne division? By that metric, the Roman military was a sad joke -- your typical legion would be trashed by a platoon of paratroopers if the paras could get a double-ration of ammo.

[Slyspy]

This is what happens when you regard history as the present in a different suit.