Sure, just because you don't want a type of warfare doesn't mean you're not going to engage in it. This happens to be the kind of warfare which doesn't "escalat

Sure, just because you don't want a type of warfare doesn't mean you're not going to engage in it. This happens to be the kind of warfare which doesn't "escalate" as such -- certain countries will continue to attack US systems at exactly the same rate regardless of whether the US is attacking 'em back.