(Blitz-invasion?; 06-02; p.2)

On the contrary, they did as can be shown.
There have been improvements in the techniques of waging war: the primary goal of democratic states that wage war is minimising one's own losses. Weapons equipment and the soldier's craftsmanship have been made perfect in this respect.

There has been considerable progress of another kind as well: in respect to politically preparing war. This is a field of interest at least for people analysing power, because one may find specific methods of manipulation that are used by the ones responsible who aim for war. Not only to get an approval of a respective sovereign, the citoyens, but to get some sort of legitimisation.

 

Psychological warfare at the "home-front"

One area of manipulation may be called psychological warfare at the "home-front". By communication not orientated towards understanding but to achieve an undeclared goal e.g. an adversary shall be demonised and one's own acting become characterised as harmless, legitimate and without alternatives:

• Demonising an adversary

At first, a conflict of interests is personalised: not structures and perceptions of interests are causes of conflict but specific persons which are acting irresponsible, unaccountable, ill willing, etc.
At the same time these persons are in a sense "depersonalised": they are portrayed as inhumane, as demonic. If this demonisation is successful, the so stigmatised does not have any chance to solve the conflict by peaceful means: you cannot negotiate with a demon, you just fight it.

Zbigniew Brzezinski has described the problem connected to such an approach in 1998 on the example of Iraq. On the interviewer's remark: "In the US, one often hears: As long as Saddam stays in power, tensions in the region will never end", he answered: "Such a position may also become a self-fulfilling prophecy." (Translated, original quote in German; cf. "Ein Ende finden" [translated: Finding an end], in: Die Zeit no. 48, p. 8. 19. November 1998.) (read on here)