"Remember that with new technology it takes less manpower to fight a war, less bases for less troops, etc."

Theoretically. No one predicited what is happening today and tactics being used to offset our techo. 1996 ASFTDS was predicted to be the way of the future and is a tad bit away from being reality. 100k troops sitting in an underground stadium playing video games with live effects on the other side of the console is still in the future. Even though the Taliban was convinced we had a death ray because of laser guided bombs falling from the sky and Preators showing up and then all hell breaking loose with out seeing a US soldier. But then again they never imagined you could fight a war at night and sleep all day.