Absolutely correct! Yes, there are regulations in place, but you could still face being sent to the other part of the globe without adequate rest before and after that flight, your circadian rhythm out of sync, the hotel noisy and check-in less than 10h away.
Long range flying is only one aspect. Fatigue happens to all of us and it is a potential killer. Nobody can tell me that you'll perform 100% at 5 am when something in your airplane unexpectedly (as always) goes south. I know that it is even harder to shoot a challenging approach after a long day and then facing bad WX, a relatively short runway etc. I'm thinking for example of the Iberia guys who 'scratched' their A340 the other day...
Being allowed to take so-called 'strategic naps' of 15-20 minutes really makes a difference and should be used, whenever necessary.
Authorities first become interested when something went wrong and the operators won't do a thing when it costs money - these are the facts.
