You're right it does and classifying information on the number of civilians killed is over-classification, which will lead someone to assume that since that classification was dumb, the classification of another document that had to be classified was dumb, which will lead said someone to think it's alright to talk about it, which could well cost lives.
Which is
exactly the point. The military individual does not have the right/luxury/certain knowledge that 'it's alright to talk about it' what he
knows is classified (whether it should be or not) as a matter of personal discretion.
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Unless, of course, one is a politician:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair has appointed controversial former CIA Director John Deutch to serve on an advisory panel reviewing the intelligence community's technical capabilities.
Ex-CIA director John Deutch lost his security clearance in the mid-1990s for mishandling top secret documents.
Deutch, who was President Clinton's CIA director for a year and a half in the mid-1990s, lost his security clearance for mishandling classified information.
At the time Deutch left the agency in late 1996, CIA security officials discovered top secret documents on Deutch's home computer, which was a violation of strict CIA policy.
The 74 classified documents included memos to the president and other cabinet officials as well as classified material from the time Deutch served as deputy defense secretary.
CIA Director George Tenet suspended
Deutch's security clearance, the toughest action he could take against the former official. Deutch voluntarily gave up his Pentagon clearance.
Deutch had reached an agreement with the Justice Department to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge and pay a fine, but before the case was filed, President Clinton pardoned him.