Ideals are nice, but realpolitik sneaks up on you and you do have to do what they would do, else you are going to suffer more then the moral guilt.
War is war. There is nothing nice about it. All these these morals are only carried out 'because you can afford them' not because you have to.
At one time, in war, one spared enemy commanders, that was nice for when the upper ranks were from the elite and you ransomed them off or traded. Today, this is not the case. I don't see a lot of daylight between these two things.
What are you talking about? The US is not at war with Iran. We assassinated a general and nuclear scientist with drones after we pulled out of a nuclear agreement they agreed to. They have since said they are open to rejoin the nuclear agreement with little US response. Before we go all war hawk, let’s remember that Iran has repeatedly expressed interest in rejoining the international community and renegotiating the nuclear deal.
So we are not at war, but why is Iran advising insurgents and other groups on getting to US targets and inflicting losses on us? Their intelligence services, advisors and equipment are used to target our troops and allies in the region. Tit for tat.
What? Israel’s navy commander Sharvit just confirmed that Israel attacked Iranian ships in the Red Sea. You have this backwards.
Israel pushed the Obama administration into having no negotiations with Iran wrt nuclear power in a bid to force military intervention. This is despite the fact that Israel itself is one of only four nations (including India, Pakistan, and North Korea) who is not an NPT signatory but has nuclear weapons nonetheless. Ironically, this backfired because by forcing the issue, Obama made it a priority to establish formal relations with Iran on nuclear power, but the intention was still there to isolate and demonize Iran. And then in 2013 when AIPAC lobbied hard for military intervention in Syria. And again in 2015. If anyone is urging their “insurgents” towards war, it is Israel, not Iran, who not only complied with the terms of JCPOA, but exceeded them. And again, even though Raisi is criticizing the US for waging war via sanctions, Iran’s official position is still to negotiate a new nuclear agreement in eventual hope to join the NPT (something Netanyahu specifically tried to avoid in the terms of JCPOA).
War is war. There is nothing nice about it. All these these morals are only carried out 'because you can afford them' not because you have to.
At one time, in war, one spared enemy commanders, that was nice for when the upper ranks were from the elite and you ransomed them off or traded. Today, this is not the case. I don't see a lot of daylight between these two things.