Ultimately, the Smoke Jaguars under his leadership never recovered to anything like their pre-invasion levels of strength, making them the ideal target for the wraith of the Inner Sphere.

Oil analysts and Government officials also speak of rebuilding Kuwait's oil production centers to a capacity well above the pre-invasion level of 2.5 million barrels a day.

He also cautioned that crude prices remained volatile and had recently returned to pre-invasion levels.

Even after this year's rally, the market is 18 percent below its pre-invasion level, according to the Financial Times index of world stock markets.

US Southern Command officials said in mid-January that the aim was gradually to reduce US troop strength in Panama to its pre-invasion level of about 13,000.

They have since fallen sharply and are now near pre-invasion levels.

Thus, by 1993, this balance was cut to less than half of its pre-invasion level.

Oil exports surpassed their pre-invasion levels in 1993 with production levels only constrained by OPEC quotas.

However, the global population has been reduced to between a fifth and an eighth of its pre-invasion level, and the world's climate has been unalterably changed.

That would still leave them well above pre-invasion levels, and thus still provide ample incentives for consumers to buy less and producers to supply more.