Yes , uncomfortable isn't it?
Killing the leadership of your opposition is a good move in a war of attrition, there is a lot of investment in the training of a leader and the loss of skill and drive and inspiration cuts deep. The loss of Stonewall Jackson or the loss of Yamamoto strike me as good examples of this.
But it is not always a good move , because some wars are not won by attrition.
If there is going to be a negotiation and genuine hope that there can be a negotiated peace , then killing off the people that you need to be negotiating with becomes a bad habit, who will you be talking to?
The replacement leadership is not likly to be chosen on the basis of reasonableness and they are not likly to be in a good mood.
So it is a judgement call, if there is no hope for negotiating a peace , or no desire to negotiate a peace because an unconditional surrender or a wipeout or maintence of war is preferred , then the leadership is just as legitamate for targeting as any rifleman.
In my own estimation , poor choices have been made in this reguard.