The Civil War was very bitter. In minds of the Union at the time, the South was not "our people". General Sherman was one of the first generals to put forward the concept of "total war" - you are either totally at war with the enemy, their armies, their supporters, their land, and their population.... or you should not be going to war at all. While brutal, the "total war' concepts still apply today. The liberals who want to go "win hearts and minds" simply don't get it.
Db is a typical liberal. He's not so clueless that he doesn't see the US is the preeminent superpower. He just desperately wishes it weren't so. Liberals see the US as largely a force for evil, and at best a stumbling, bumbling giant which makes a mess of even the things it attempts with good intentioms. Oddly though, they push for a more immense and intrusive federal government at every turn.
CORRECTAMUNDO! War is HELL! The WORST! If you're "going to war", it should be with the intention of "overwhelming force"... STOMP THE ENEMY INTO THE DIRT AS BEST YOU CAN MANGE WHILE PRESERVING THEY LIVES OF YOUR OWN COMBATANTS. KILL EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY IN SIGHT, AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, UNTIL VICTORY IS ACHIEVED. If that's not your objective, you're an ASSHOLE for supporting the notion of war.