Although they have fought bravely and in the end successfully, it will be a long time before overseas aggressors again view them with the awe exhibited after Operation Desert Storm and the Balkan air war.
The consensus view is that the Bank of England is likely to remain stranded on its desert island surrounded by waves of inflation but unable to muster the strength to do anything about it.
For in this global conflict, the decisive "battlefield" lies not on some remote desert plateau, but rather on the emotional, intellectual and spiritual planes that constitute Muslims' view of their own religion.