With nearly all of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard divisions shifted south for the defense of Baghdad, most of an estimated 100,000 army conscripts like this one are left manning the front lines in northern Iraq.
Hussein blamed Iran, and purged an estimated 120 army officers, most of them Shiites.
The TTP say that the raid was in retaliation for the ongoing military offensive launched in the summer, which the army estimate has killed 1,600 militants so far.
The Nepalese army estimates that the ice and rock is 30m deep.
United States officials here estimated that the army would cost $350 million a year to train, equip and operate.
The army estimates that the FARC has around 8,000 fighters, plus 20,000 working in logistical support.
Isis' army, estimated to be some 6,000 strong, has advanced near Baghdad, where residents are preparing for the worst.
Herodotus estimated the Persian army to number in the millions, but modern scholars tend to doubt his reportage.
William A. Orme Jr. (NYT) ISRAEL: PULLOUT COSTS It will cost about $250 million to pull out of Lebanon this year and build new defenses, Finance Minister Avraham Shochat said, quoting army estimates.
Official estimates of the army's manpower stand at 150,000, though sceptics believe this is wildly exaggerated to conceal corruption, and put the true figure closer to 70,000.
