Thanks for all the interesting personal detail. It certainly shows that you don't fall into the leave bullies alone category outright. Glad I never sent anyone to the hospital. Don't think I ever even had to fight once I had the confidence to stand up for myself. Just showing a willingness to was usually enough. All my fights except maybe in 6th grade were of the cornered rat type. I was more of a natural wrestler than boxer so I didn't seriously hurt anyone in 6th grade just put em in painful holds until they cried uncle (kinda like the sanction approach). Actually becoming a wrestler and working out with the better known jocks in the weight room may explain why real fights seldom occured after that. My experience does give me an appreciation for the peace through strength and willingness to use it approach.

On the other hand you still can't get clear that relative number of deaths concept. I have a deep conviction that unintentional loss of life is far better than doing nothing and allowing far greater numbers of deaths to go on unheeded. That is the application of the bully analogy. No analogy is perfect but the underlying principle of taking action to minimize harm rather than acting blameless for allowing harm holds true. In a perfect world we could prevent harm without causing any but that's not possible in many situations particularly when you have relatively powerful groups undercutting nonviolent efforts. It is quite clear however that the US has made great progress towards that goal even in a war situation. The relative amount of civilian casualties are way down due to our improving technology. I'm not sure we can get much better though.

Regards,
Mark