<html> <head> <style> P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body { FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma } </style> </head> <body> De Long wrote:   > It seems to me that the more troops we have, the less of our troops > will die because there will be more people to catch IEDs, find > insurgents, save injured troops etc. > > Totally contrary to what my liberal self was saying a few months back. > > Am I crazy?   No, you're perfectly sane.  Escalating a war against a determined indigenous resistance always leads to fewer deaths.  This has been the case in all occupations, from the Philippines to Nicaragua to Vietnam. It's certainly working in Haiti.  This time next year, the sweatshops will be booming again.   Of course, if your only concern is American deaths (which is implicit in what you wrote), then the answer is to withdraw from troops from the ground entirely and resort to a massive escalation of the secret air war that has been occurring since late 2005.  This will almost certainly escalate the already genocidal death rates in Iraq, however many many fewer American soldiers will die.   Indeed, perhaps sufficiently few that you can launch future adventures under a Democrat president with broad approval from the American public.  Although bombing from 20,000 feet will transfer the risk of death to the civilian population, you can be sure that your confederates will detect a humanitarian purpose in it.   <hr />Be one of the first to try <a href='http://ideas.live.com/programpage.aspx?versionId=5d21c51a-b161-4314-9b0e-4911fb2b2e6d' target='_new'>Windows Live Mail.</a></body> </html>