[AgentZero]

Sort of on the same topic, I saw a great documentary on the BBC about this study they conducted of WWI soldiers shortly after the war and were shocked to find that only something like 10% of soliders were actively trying to kill the enemy. The other 90% were just firing above or off to one side etc. A more recent study of battles in Vietnam found the figure at about 98% and out of the 2% that were trying actively aiming to kill their enemy, half were certifiable sociopaths who enjoyed the experience, and the other half were what's considered the 'model soldier' just doing what his country required of him and who, assuming he survived, would return to normal civilian life easily after his tour was finished.

When I was watching this, I actually thought about the Longbowmen, since they didn't really aim at anyone, but rather at some point up in the sky, whereas the guys with muskets, and later rifles and machine guns, actually had to look at the people they were killing, and I guess this 'personalization' of killing made it a lot harder. Now of course with cruise missiles, ICBMs, bombers and fighter-bombers, killings gone back to being nice and unpersonal. Wierd, huh?