>Vietnam, Afhanistan (US & USSR), Iraq
>BTW remember the Zulu wars....

Vietnam, Russian Afghanistan and Iraq are examples that support having a large number of soldiers, the US (actually NATO) Afghanistan experience shows that a nation can be conquered and occupied with a minimal of personel using high tech... and being seen as liberators and not conquerers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._invasion_of_Afghanistan#Nature_of_the_coalition

>Well mine is an Acer, built & dev. in Taiwan....

Not a bad example. Though the 5th largest PC maker, I don't see much evidence of true innovation.

>Western arrogance will be our downfall...

Perhaps. One could say this happened to the Middle East.