P2W, I disagree that Afganistan is "in your face". Afganistan is heavily censored in the news. We only get to see what "they" want you to see. Vietnam was completely different with the journos having free reign. All governments learnt from that and keep journos on very short leashes, if they're allowed at all.
Also the TV and newspapers heavily censor to "protect" sensitive people from reality. In Vietnam, the entire execution of that poor woman would have been shown on the 7pm news with no warnings about sensitive people may find this shocking. I certainly remember several very graphic incidents from Vietnam.
I feel for the poor blighters sent up there. They're just doing their job to the best of their ability. None of my friends and acquaintances who were sent to Vietnam could be described as psychologically normal following their experience, even though none were physically injured. I feel for the soldiers sent to Afganiston and fear for their ongoing well being. The proportion coming back psychologically battered seems to be much higher from wars post WW2 compared to the generation sent to WW2.
