[Happy Monkey]

It all depends on whether you're willing to see the enemy as human. All too often, a war goes on long enough that one or both sides lose that perspective. Nothing dehumanizes one's enemies more than a thirst for vengeance.

This isn't a justification of the behavior of the people who commit atrocities, but it is a predictable outcome. Whoever creates the situation is culpable in addition to - not instead of - the perpetrator.