Kill 75 guys and...

According the most sources the old republic served the "greater good" a concept that is utilitarianism at its base.
So in the old republic stories you usually run into the, "it would bring destruction to the repbulic so it must be destroyed" or "this sith guy must be killed because we would kill billions."

This leads to "the needs of the many" while the sith are"the needs of me".. so the jedi are fine with destroying a world or 3 to save the rest of the galaxy.

That was an offensive by the republic not a choice made by the Jedi, and I'm pretty sure the Jedi refused to fight in the Mandalorian wars, that was just Revan and Malak

Jedi, as a rule, are people.

Shocking, I know.

The whole idea of the Jedi code being the be all end all of anything is silly, and is presented as such in the game. You meet plenty of NPCs who offer their own opinions on things like warfare, romance, politics, etc. And how it relates to the force. There are as many different opinions on what is what as there are masters.

Bioware just happened to screw it up by assigning Dark/Light points to choices in dialogue, instead of letting you rationalize your actions yourself and decide which side of the moral spectrum you fall on.

The way I see it, you don't really kill everyone on your way there. You might kill some, might knock others out, might leave some laying there.

Its a medium to tell a story.

Also, if anyone is trying to KILL you, you are going to defend yourself. I think most soldiers (aka mobs) in the game are trying to kill you anyway.

I don't know. I don't think about it much. If you do, you might realize your characters is committing mass murder on a universal scale.

Revan, malak and a few hundred other jedi, the Exile was the jedi general who came up with the plan.

as the the great hyperspace war..

"In the aftermath of the battle, Supreme Chancellor Pultimo of the Republic ordered an invasion of Sith space. The Republic and the Jedi Order then embarked on a military expedition throughout the territories ruled by the Sith Empire, to search out all remaining Sith strongholds and destroy them." from wookiepedia

you can also check out he timeline on this sites holonet

Along the same lines, has anybody else ever wondered where Bond villans ever find so many nameless henchmen willing to die for them?

Just repeat to yourself the old Monty Python "they're not dead, they're resting/stunned/pining for the fjords" trope and you should be OK.

Are they members of The Guild of Calamitous Intent?

At least as a consular I sneak around most fights to do no unnecessary killings (but the game punishes me for doing so by giving me less XP). Would really like if BioWare would put some reward for avoiding all the killing.

Blackwater contractors?