Take the CIA drone program. During the early days they resisted armed drones. The old guard said they didn't do assassinations, didn't arm spy aircraft else their missions become acts of war (see Gary Powers). A decade later, armed drones are the backbone of the program. Targeted killings are a norm. Or, take the torture program. Despite him being a complete hawk, Senator McCain was against mistreating prisoners. He was a POW himself. But he lost his race for president. The new nominee is pro-torture. The old warriors of the cold war are retiring out and the new batch is moving into senior leadership. The new batch are much less restrained. They don't believe in principals based on reciprocity as they have been brought up fighting asymmetrical enemies. Every fight is now an existential battle to be fought without restraint or compromise, an attitude adopted from politics imho.