I find that the pacifying force ratio that worked okay in Malaysia in the 1950s was one in fifty, or 20 to a thousand.

Also my first post should have said "adult civilians", not just "civilians. Sorry, big difference, and it changes all the numbers. The adult population of Iraq is about 15,000,000. The average age of the populace was 19.2 years old in December 2004.

So, using the 1 to 50 Malaysian model, we arrive at General Shinseki's 300,000 troops, or roughly twice what we have now. But where the Malaysian model falls apart is that we werent facing a full-scale insurgency, certainly not on the level that we're facing now.. Actually, in counterinsurgency, the US-preferred minimum is 3 troopers to 1 insurgent!! How one would count insurgents in Iraq right now is beyond me.