It perplexes me too, especially after Tony Blair committed political suicide by joining in with the invasion of Iraq. Churchill established it as a lynchpin of

It perplexes me too, especially after Tony Blair committed political suicide by joining in with the invasion of Iraq. Churchill established it as a lynchpin of British foreign policy, as absolute and unquestionably valid as the old "maintain a balance of power in Europe", and it just seems to have stuck ever since, regardless of the costs.