Many of us live very sheltered lives. Just read a book about German Jewish boys who were sent out of Germany just before it was too late...they made their way to the US and eventually joined the military to be interrogators/translators in a unit of military intelligence. This was especially interesting to me because my father escaped to SA at the age of 16. The war was over by the time he got to the States, but ironically a lot of the 'Ritchie boys' as they were known ended up in the same profession as he, college professor of german/romance literature/history...The only difference between then and now is that the devastation and evil is either more dilute or more remote...for the time being. But of course for your Iraqi or Syrian example there was until recently for the most part little difference.
Watching the squadrons of prop planes in formation, high up in the clouds, emitting that fearful all-encompassing drone of dozens of engines as they slowly proceeded across the sky, made me think of old WWII documentaries of the Allied bombers crossing the Channel to bomb Germany. Chilling!
But the contrast between those old prop planes, and the modern jets of the Blue Angels was dramatic. And unfortunately a harbinger of the tragic devastation that I'm sure will someday overwhelm the world. Too many homeless, rootless hordes; too many empty supper bowls; too much maschismo in world leaders; too many fingers poised over The Button. Perhaps you agree; before long, everything's going to change....big time!
We personally will likely never know. But there are some very unpleasant scenarios in the wings.