On the eve of a likely invasion of Iraq, NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations about the history of casualties in war. In Vietnam, the United States lost more than 58,000 soldiers. In the 1991 Persian Gulf War, 147 were killed on the battlefield. Many Americans have come to expect fewer casualties to be the norm for conflicts. Boot is the author of The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power. We also hear from people in San Diego, Cleveland and Austin about what they expect will be the number of battlefield deaths if war occurs.
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