"Back in the war you were used to seeing these sorts of things."

And the guy is a jerk.

EDIT: Which is very weird now that I think about it. Not the guy being a jerk. The Wutai War they were talking about. In Crisis Core, the Shinra had no real difficulty when First Class SOLDIERS were in the battle field. Hell, Second Class SOLDIERS as well, since (SPOILER)Zack is that rank at that point in the game.

I guess regular grunts have a much greater chance of being KIA, but if a couple of high ranking people easily mopped the floor with ninja land, then why not just outsource the war to them?

CURSE YOU SQUARE-ENIX AND YOU NOT PLANNING FOR A PREQUEL THAT CAME OUT OVER A DECADE LATER!!