From a reader:

Dear Jonah,
I’m an Anglophile and a great believer in the “special relationship” and all that, Yet somehow I can’t see Churchill saying, “We will fight on the beaches and the landing grounds and in the streets…so long as America retains our special steel quota exemption…”
I mean, isn’t Britain fighting alongside us because, I don’t know, it’s the RIGHT THING TO DO?
Best Regards, Name Withheld

Iain’s friend replies:

The point is not why we fight alongside you. The point is that having already done so, we deserve the respect due to your only significant ally, and refusing to grant the British PM’s request on steel was a sign of immense disrespect. It is not the disease, but a symptom of it. The steel subsidies affair happened after we had become the only nation (including Australia) to contribute significantly (that is, tens of thousands of soldiers) to Afghanistan and Iraq.