Mind you the timeline on that still looks bizarre. Manticore is fairly sure they've nailed down when the MAlign ships dropped out of hyper way the hell out from the system. Given that it took them months to work their way from that point all the way into firing range within the Manticore system you're left trying to claim that this "perfectly valid retaliatory strike" was carried out by forces that somehow, presciently, were not only dispatched before the provoking event but had actually arrived in the vicinity of the Manticoran system and been working on violating it's sovereign territory prior to the Green Pines terrorist strike. (Also trying to explain why they attacked Grayson for something they were blaming Manticore and Haven for is another major stretch)quite possibly a cat wrote:Also I wonder about the reaction in Manticore if its learned that Manticore was behind the Green Pines Massacre. If I remember correctly the Manticorian position is it was an unprovoked attack by Mesa. Except Oyster Bay was after Green Pines! That's not an unprovoked attack. That's a perfectly valid retaliatory strike.
If I was the Opposition I would hammer that home. The millions dead are square on the heads of the government who murdered a park full of children. If that doesn't get me the government nothing will.
I'm not saying the Opposition couldn't make a claim on this, but it's a claim that doesn't withstand a lot of logical scrutiny. (Though, sadly, that doesn't mean it's necessarily an ineffective claim)