On May 1, 9:16 am, (Rand Simberg) wrote:

I would have thought it obvious. In terms of cost and value for some
of NRO's battlestar galactica, it's like sinking an aircraft carrier.

Since it's a bit hard to imagine zapping someone else's satellite
outside of an already warlike context, the question is probably
somewhat moot.

However, aircraft carriers and aircraft have people in them and most
satellites that are candidates for zapping don't. Add to that the
fact that zapping could well occur over the national territory of the
zapper, and the parallel with the aircraft carriers isn't, IMHO, all
that close.

And even if it is declared to be an act of war, there remains the
question of what to do about it.