Cows, an interesting (if snarky) post.
Per the NTSB report linked by Cows Getting Bigger:
"To further compound the situation, when the captain of ACL336 recognized the diminishing separation, he reduced the power to flight idle on both engines to slow the aircraft rather than maintain enough thrust to the go-around point so that immediate thrust responses would be available. This was in direct conflict with company procedures, which call for stabilized approaches for all landings."
"Even if the throttles had been immediately advanced, it would have taken about 6 to 8 seconds for the engines to spool up and develop power to go-around since the captain had reduced the throttles to flight idle."
However, if I read the report correctly, the lengthy delay of the captain (PF) in responding to the ATC go-around was a more important factor in the accident than slowing the engines to flight idle.