Ok, I exaggerated a bit. But the point I tried to make still stands. That is, it is the separation of planning and execution, conception and responsibility, leaders and followers that is the culprit here. It is easy for the leaders to talk about abstractions, be it the notorious domino theory in Southeast Asia, or neoliberal economic effciency and structural adjustments, and sacrifice people's lives for these abstractions when they do not have to face the consequences of their actions. It is like playing video games.
Waht did the Vietnam war in was the televised images of the carnage that military and civilian leaders created. Seeing naked children burnt with napalm was more than most people could handle.
The leaders lerned that lesson well since then, hence the sanitized images of 'smart' hi-tech wars in Iraq or Kosovo. I'm pretty sure that most pilots who do the carnage do not face the consquences of their action, unles shot down and captured. But even that might not ne enough - as McCain's case illustartes .
In any case, modern warfare is more like to be directed aggainst civilian targets than the military, and this is by design conceived in military academies and top universities, such as Harvard, JHU or MIT. To my knowledgem only the Nazi leaders and scientists explicitly charged with these crimes - while their US colleagues bask in fame and glory.
wojtek