During the Vietnam War the US had 537,377 troops stationed in South Vietnam; which had a population of 16 million people. This meant there was about one American soldier for every 29.77 South Vietnamese.

By comparison, in Iraq today we have approximately 133,000 soldiers for over 26,783,383 Iraqis, or, approximately one person in uniform for every 201. Even after the President's proposed "surge" of 21,000 new pairs of boots on the ground, these ratios will not appreciably change; the number only goes down to about one per 174 Iraqis.