Lower is better, but that doesn't mean anything, Joel, I know people like to talk about being spread thin and such, but that's stuff the DOD says to get more money, and armchair quarterbacks say because they don't know better. Three equally sized and armed countries sitting somewhere, two go to war for a few years and lose about half their troops each, third guy attacks figuring they've got half the guys and they're exhausted. People nod their head and assume the victor is obvious, in reality either of the other sides who have lost forces would kick the shit out of their numerically superior 'fresh' enemy. Our troops are better trained for the options, far better equipped for them, and have very high ratios of experienced veterans... hence lower casualties, that is the principle source.



But the rate isn't critical, it's mostly meaningless. It took a few years for us to get our feet under us in the various respects and to get all the new equipment manufactured, distributed, and trained up on. Trust me Joel, that's one of my actual areas of expertise. Grand strategy, enemy activity, how much area we have to cover by ourselves or with the local's help and/or friendliness, enemy supply, and so on make a difference, huge ones, but it's almost all training, equipment, and experience, and those ramped up massively in the first few years and then more or less plateaued.



Okay, that's hardly wrong but frankly you're assuming the media knows what the hell it's talking about, and it doesn't, that the president really has much say on anything besides pulling the trigger on the original situation, which they really don't, and that crap generals or retired officers say on TV means anything, which it doesn't anymore than 30 seconds spots by scientists or politicians do.



Well Rather retired wealthy and still respected by most people, Saddam was hung, so yeah there was a difference. Also we have McD's in theater, or did last time I was there... nice 24/7 one at the airfield in Kuwait we all processed through... I ate like a hundred double-cheeseburgers on my handful of occasions passing through. There are local eateries, I went to a real nice on in Dahuk, but you don't eat off base very often except MREs and you usually eat on base at the D-Fac because it's free and the food on a FOB is usually very good. But yes there is a McD's in BAghdad and a KFC and a Pizza Hut... except IIRC Pizzahut, Burger King, and Cinnabon pulled out of Baghdad last year. They're occupied countries, not actual warzones, and the only reason there wasn't way more of that stuff is command has learned from previous wars not to let our troops and civvies mingle much with the locals except on job and in groups.



Well, that's your opinion, personally I didn't really care about OBL that much or Saddam.