They Don't Eat Much Either

Now I see where we are going to get the extra troops for Bush's escalation. Maybe we are going to take a cue from the British. From the Telegraph:

British troops are manning watchtowers with dummies at the Army's main garrison in southern Iraq, it was disclosed last night.

They have used mannequins to take the place of real soldiers during darkness in up to eight of the 16 watchtowers at the Shaibah Logistics Base, west of Basra.

The Grenadier Guards came up with the tactic after being sent out for a six-month tour 47 men short, The Sun reported.

Every two-hour shift change the figures, equipped with desert combat fatigues, helmets and rifles, were moved about.

Put mannequins in guard towers? Brilliant! Using this tactic we could easily "surge" up 400,000 troops for relatively cheap, although I'm sure the Pentagon would find a way to manage to pay $8,000 per mannequin. Plus it would help out with those pesky Baghdad car pool lane regulations.