The problem is not with the British Army, which is doubtless one of the best fighting forces in the world. You can always point out that this bit of kit could have been better and that they should have not used Snatch Landies to begin with, but get proper APCs instead – and complain about the quality of the boots and what have you – but you always get that and this is not the reason why you win or loose a war.
The current problem facing modern armies is how to combat terrorism / guerrilla war. Unfortunately no one found the formula yet, The Americans use impressive fire power but to no avail – no amount of Apache Longbow will solve the problem of road-side bombs and suicide-strapped desperados.
The British Army went for the ‘heart and minds’ campaign – that just about worked in Basra, but in Helmand they were greeted back with hale of bullets. And the Israelis recently found out that having a massive air force and the heaviest-armoured tank in the world (Merkava Mk-IV) is not working against a couple of guys hiding in the bushes with a portable Katyusha launcher or a Russian anti-tank rocket.
Sure, are guys should have the right and best equipment, but our problem at the moment is not with the kit or with the soldiers – it’s with how you actually win this type of war.