Death Levels

Sheboygan Shenanigans has a post up about the number of deaths in our armed forces during different presidencies.  Here’s the crux of it:

Clinton years (1993-2000): 14,107 deaths
George W years (2001-2007): 7,932 deaths

Her post highlights how the media covered the level of death differently depending on the occupant of the White House and it’s a great point. 

It got me thinking on a tangent topic.  Why have deaths been reduced so much despite two wars?

I have two theories.  First, the military was much larger for most of Clinton’s presidency.  After the Cold War, we scaled back over a third of the size of the military.  That was an ongoing process during Clinton’s presidency.  More people = more opportunity for death.  My second theory is the dramatic advance in technology.  Our soldiers’ body armor is much better and we use more technology to keep our distance at a tactical level (drones, Tomahawks, etc.). 

Thoughts?

UPDATE: The death numbers above appear to be false.  See the comments for more details.  Still, I’d like to hear thoughts on the advancement of military tactics and technology that results in safer troops.