Good points, Schmedlap. I'll add that I don't find "violence metrics" particularly useful.

Beyond the apples/oranges points, the "next Brigade" losing more soldiers doesn't necessarily indicate the previous one did a better job - in fact the opposite could be argued. Brigades in '08 lost considerably fewer soldiers than the ones they replaced - one would be wrong to claim that's because they were better, smarter, or faster.

But these numbers do offer some perspective on what we're talking about here - I didn't intend them to refute anything said previously or dismiss the significance of the discussion. Given that we are discussing a document that others can't see I likewise think it's worthwhile to point out said document isn't a one-sided hit piece on the subject. (In fact, ultimately the author does not condemn him but acknowledges things aren't quite as black and white as he thought when he began.)