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> Humans are more of an emotional target. Some humans are a high value target, but most are not.

Tell that to Nagasaki or Hiroshima. Also, tell that to Ukraine.

Humans will always be targets at least somewhat; If for nothing else, they are near the controls to some drone. Warfare is psychological at least as much as it is physical.

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Nuclear weapons are on a different category. They are not targeting a lot of humans but pretty much all humans; and infrastructure too (strategic or not).

Carpet shelling or carpet bombing with kilotons of TNT beg to differ.

Carpet bombing has strictly limited utility vs. humans and infrastructure, as shown by allied bombing campaigns in WWII. Strategic targets were bombed for years and the Germans kept building tanks and aircraft. Japanese cities were burned without breaking the will of the Japanese people to fight.

With nuclear weapons, the potential for total destruction of human civilization is extremely high. The "tons of TNT" measure doesn't take into account flash, radiation and environmental effects of nuclear warfare.

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