They showed what the US government wanted them to see.

Might be a play on the word “see” here.

Wars are distant things to North America. A product that is viewed only through glass or a screen. There has never been conventional war on modern north American soil, so it is something people go to, but not a devastation that really affects day to day life.

I’d liken the attitude more to Hollywood movies: an export of American (US) culture.

So the understanding that this is people’s literal homes. That life is finite, and war is atrocious is disconnected. I can watch Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, Black Hawk Down, etc. to get a taste of war, but when I’m done with it, I want it to resolve and be over.

That’s not possible for Ukrainians. Their country is still occupied. The devastation on their land will continue for decades.

Even if they crash through the lines next week, and sweep aside Russian defences like dust there are decades of rebuilding and de-mining ahead.

The cultural West must be willing to be in that journey every step of the way, or we risk another radicalized generation in the future that heard the promises, but lived the broken actions.

All in my opinion, of course, from the safety of my home.

Sure it has, but it has mainly seen it through the lens of the USA. The USA has been able to overpower other militaries on such an extreme scale that people think a war should be over in a week.

Most of the deaths were saw in Iraq and Afghanistan were from an insurgency fighting an occupying force. It wasn’t the same as two industrial nations fighting. No one really covered the Iran-Iraq War, so the closest experience would likely be Korea.