Rules in war?

Society is strange, and has been getting stranger and stranger each passing century. War is a terrible thing...that's a given. If you think war is fun, then I would suggest a visit to your local shrink. So, let's pretend you aren't some lip-diddling idiot or George W. Bush, and you find the thought of war distasteful. It may be necessary sometimes, but not as a vehicle to get re-elected or line the pockets of your oil industry buddies. Given all of that, who thinks that "rules of engagement", the whole Geneva Convention thing, makes any sense? What's its point? To make war more...er...humane? The idea of a war is to kill more of the enemy than they kill of you. It's also to ensure that there isn't any spirit left in the enemy so that a resurgence of hostilities is unlikely...in other words, beat them down until they can barely lift their heads to look you in the eyes. Fighting a war in any other fashion just brings about the crap we constantly see...like the shit going on in Iraq.

The US has no clue, and never has had a clue, on how to fight a successful war.