Small, regional and large

Iraq, Yemen.. these would be considered small to regional despite the level of suffering involved. Large is when a heap of allied countries pile on and devastation is everywhere around the globe. But I take your point.. most wars are pretty pointless and wasteful to me. And as far as the writer's perspective.. of course he'll take it from that POV.. but would you want him to list every little conflict ever? Writers have to get their point across in a format that is digestible without overloading the reader. He may very well agree with you totally, but doesn't wish to alienate his likely readership. Or he may be saving his lashing out for when he's got university tenure.. who knows.