Pretty much. Both sides' protracted intransigence has allowed them to fall into this cognitively simple, but ultimately self-defeating rut.
If you stop thinking of the other side as a group of persons with hopes, dreams, aspirations, limited perception etc. -- just as you yourself possess -- it is all too easy to de-humanize them. The only way to win then is via eradication of the opponent -- which history teaches us always exacts a harsh if delayed price on the victor as well.
Rome's eradication of Carthage led, over time, to the destruction of the Roman Republic.
The USSR's eradication of Nazi Germany did damage that modern Russia is still coping with, and ended up creating the context for the USSR's own dissolution.
etc.
Plus, quoting Nietzche always has that "badass" cachet.....
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