I was in the Army for 7 years and deployed 3 times. What does "actual warfare" look like? If what I experienced wasn't war, what is? You are minimizing the sacrifices that we and our combatants have made which is, quite frankly, disgusting.

The risks related to traditional warfare are incredibly high, not low, and risk will continue to grow as technology becomes the strongest variable in military dominance and success. Simply put, from now and well into the future, lethality will become greater. We can kill faster and with greater accuracy than we ever could in the past. Our capacity to kill is there -- just restrained.

The situation in Mexico [and further south for that matter] is dire and probably incredibly similar to that of Afghanistan after the Russians left. The cartels are the law. There is no effective form of government in Mexico.