I am in agreement, and I don’t think most people would want a wholesale slaughter of the enemy unless that enemy was determined to the point of fighting to the last man, woman and child.
I think of WW2 Japan in this aspect and their mindset, not just the mindset of their leaders (such as Germany).
In the end, the populace supports the war machine of the combatants and in that sense are not so “innocent”, but they don’t need to be the primary target, although their factories that churn out weapons absolutely should be, along with the other logistical entities.
Forcing them to lose their will to fight does not have to incorporate genocide, but no matter how horrible war is, particularly when you are attempting to REALLY win, you MUST put the fear of eradication into the populace in order to change their predisposed mindset.
That lesson was learned in our past on a few occasions and seems to have been cast off in favor of “winning hearts and minds”. Stupid change. The hearts and minds you are winning weren’t the ones who were directly fighting you in the first place.
You're right Piox ... and that's a very insightful comment. Thanks for sharing.