Modern war

As people watch with shock and disbelief the savagery of the ISIS group and how they execute people, I am reminded of how the wars we have fought since WW 2 have changed our perception of war. Throughout history and up to and including WW 2 the purpose of war was to win and that meant destroying the enemy. People often talk about the horrors of the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki but far more people were burned to death with the fire-bombing of Japanese cities. The same thing happened in Germany. Cities were deliberately targeted because of the civilian population and this was designed to hasten the end of the war. When incendiary bombs were dropped in large quantities it set up a massive fire that burned alive thousands of people in cities like Dresden. On the evening of February 13, 1945, an orgy of genocide and barbarism began against a defenseless German city, one of the greatest cultural centers of northern Europe. Within less than 14 hours not only was it reduced to flaming ruins, but an estimated one-third of its inhabitants, possibly as many as a half a million, had perished in what was the worst single event massacre of all time. Since WW 2 technology and politics have combined to clean up war. We no longer go to war to win but to play for a draw. Politicians dictate strategy to generals and public opinion decides that water boarding is torture. We are willing to fight for our beliefs but not if it gets too messy. We take the high road and leave the low road to those nasty people like ISIS. Those devils are still fighting wars the old fashion way. They want to win and destroy their enemies. Maybe we can explain to them that the rules of war have changed and convince them to start killing people in a more civilized way.