[alloysteel]

Collateral damage to the population of a country under attack is always greater than the direct losses taken by the armed defenders. Part of this attributed to the fact that the defenders are embedded in the population centers, rather than foolishly spreading their resources over sparsely populated rural areas. The secondary reason is that the population centers are also where the logistical supply centers for the defending forces are located, and shutting down the munitions factories, heavy industrial manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers are targets worthy of attack.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Collateral damage to the population of a country under attack is always greater than the direct losses taken by the armed defenders. Part of this attributed to the fact that the defenders are embedded in the population centers, rather than foolishly spreading their resources over sparsely populated rural areas. The secondary reason is that the population centers are also where the logistical supply centers for the defending forces are located, and shutting down the munitions factories, heavy industrial manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers are targets worthy of attack."

All true, but that, I think, is not the key point the article is making.

[Nucluside]

The Mead treatment is one of the best analyses of the culture I've ever read. The minor differences of opinion (Jeffersonian 2nd Admentment interp. and some of Jefferson's foreign policy: Barbary pirates) I have are not worth elaborating, considering the soundness of the thought and quality of the writing. No pscho-babble, PC warmie-fuzzy, no Clintonian BS; just real thinking!