>>520770206
>Most of them, as far as I get it, were veterans, so I expect them to understand this about the military. Maybe western armies built different kind of mindset about war?
absolutely. we look at war as sort of a fun activity. we get to go half way across the world and play in a sand box and shoot at poorly trained goatfuckers who don't pose much of a threat. and if shit gets bad, no worries, just call in an airstrike. then you get to go home and be a hero for the rest of your life. when you hear westerners parroting shit like "russia doesn't care about their soldiers, they're just meat for the meat grinder" you have to understand it comes from the mentality of being some individualistic, nearly invincible hero, as opposed to simply being a cog in the machine.
the next near peer conflict we get into will be a serious reality check for those people.