I don't quite see how that supports Maniac's view... that statement is saying that the contribution of people, in this case meaning any living being, including Kilrathi, are the important consideration in war, not machines.
It's really a much more interesting quotation when one looks at Tolwyn's views when he, for example, argues for the Tarawa's extraction from Kilrathi space and then when one looks at the project's people. Both views held by Tolwyn during various times fit this statement in very different ways. The Tarawa incident shows that he believes that war is important because of the people that one is fighting for and with. The project shows that, later on, he believes that people are important as a tool for war.
