You can't stop conflict (unless you introduce a third party) but in the grand scheme of things a tanks vs tanks battle will usually cause a lot more destruction in the same period of time as random pipe/car bombings. The problem is that eventually you can find and destroy all the tanks but the pipe/car bombs can go on pretty much forever. I'd be very impressed if they actually manage to address that issue in this show instead of sweeping it under the rug and claiming people can't fight without their giant mechs.