I agree that the message in Paths of Glory could be adapted to other settings, however it is really only in a war setting that it can be taken to its ultimate violent conclusion.  In many situations there are those who are lower in authority who have to deal with ineptitude and amoral behaviour in their superiors.  The absolute callousness of Assolant (OK, I have to mention the word play on his name - he really is an ass), the indifference to human life, the focus on his own image above everything else, would perhaps be hard to replicate in other non-war settings where there is less violence and a "win at all costs" mentality.

I thought that the multiple POV narrative was very interesting.  It was very clever to show what individuals were thinking before the battle, not the military tactics in which they had been trained, but  disconnected random trivialities such as the wounds made by a bayonet, or a blister on the heel.  Human beings are able to contemplate their own death, but it obviously still seems surreal despite the realities of the situation.

The actual assault on the Pimple lasts for a little over 2 pages in the book, and 35 minutes in time.  The absolute waste of life is very well depicted, with sharp contrasts between the heroic stance of Charpentier, and the next instance his decapitated body falling into his own trench.  The lack of any progress and loss of life is disheartening to read, made worse by Nolot's revelation that Assolant had ordered the batteries to fire on their own front line in order to spur them on to action.

One of the few bright points in the novel is the response of the Battery Commander, Pelletier, to Assolant's directive.  He can refuse to carry out the order despite the risks to himself, which is probably execution, but Cobb writes his story describing him as "very young, very tired, and very dirty", and also "listless" and "pallid" which shows his inability to stop the insane request of the General.

One of the weakest characters is General de Guerville who appears to accidently take the viewpoint of Dax, a voice of reason, but who then quickly backs off and seems happy to go along with punishing men who had done nothing wrong, just as long as the officers were not blamed, and the men who were punished had no resources to make trouble. 

There have always been atrocities in wartime, but I believe that they are somewhat lessened by having the media embedded with the troops in modern combat situations.  Perhaps this would stop some tragedies unfolding the way this one does.  At the end of Section 2 there is still a hope that surely this can't play out the way it appears to be heading.  Surely somebody will step up to the plate, or a sense of honour will return to those in charge.  However, in this situation as in many modern ones, once the first mistake has been made, people tend to try to cover it up rather than confess to it.

As an eternal optimist, I found myself hoping up until the very end that Assolant would call off the attack because of the weather.  That seemed like the rational response, and I kept waiting for that to happen.  I was ultimately surprised (perhaps I was the only one) when the attack went off at the planned time despite all the negative indications.

I was also interested in the idea that the officers put so much effort into the planning stages but that, once a battle is started, it is entirely out of their hands.  It's almost as if the battle unfolds under its own power.  I guess I didn't realize that fact about trench warfare.  I had the idea that the officers would be directing the details of the attack as it was occurring, but I suppose that was a naive view.  I'm learning quite a bit about trench warfare in reading this book.  I don't typically read books about war, so this is new for me.