The enemy has no problem killing you exactly for the same reason that you have no problem killing the enemy.

If these kids didn't listen (weren't forced by the State to listen) to older men telling them horror stories about the 'enemy', they would just hang out, drink and party together.

Anyway, it's impossible and inappropriate to explain this on HackerNews.

Above all, War is an infectious mental disease and we need to vaccinate ourselves from it if we don't want to get infected by it in the future.

It occurs primarily in our minds and then it manifests in destruction and bloodshed.

That's why I recommended Tolstoy's book. He does a much better job than I at explaining it.