>>720633drones and artillery have made killing less personal, not very different from playing a videogame, hell, most american war tourists go make a living off it since they're more useful as propaganda tools by giving them a cushy drone operator job and keeping them safe for them to go back and talk about what a great time they had while the locals and colombians died in the frontlines like flies.
infantry nowadays is mostly cheap labour in the field rather than actually killing as most combat calibers can be stopped by modern armor.
you don't get the same effect as you do making an example out of the survivors.
half of the guerrilla work is looking after the camp and scouting; there's a reason why cartels use children as their eyes in the cities like modern urban guerrillas.
the days of the rugged guerrillas are over, every operation must be optimized and as sophisticated as the enemy's.
and sending messages as deterrent be it artillery strikes, threats of an escalation in cruelty and keeping politicians in the payroll is all part of the game that modern warfare has become.
that's just how it is.
on a side note logistics is also a huge part of warfare, using prisoners for labour is also not new for guerrillas, if you really must be soft with them.