This would normally hold true, with the exception that it was brought to so much light that everyone is basically playing their own thing, thus giving them storyline-able justification for unifying all 3 of their fleets and spanking our asses from one side of the galaxy to the other... but yeah I agree with you.
And see, I told you if you just give me time to get a fucking storyline up I wasnt going in trying to exterminate bespin, I was giving myself a tactical edge for negotiations, and the rules dont allow me to do diplomacy at 2 planets at the same time. Remember, people are much more open to negotiation when they feel like their lives are on the line. Whether they are or not is unimportant, its the appearance that counts. The difference between me and the imps, the imps would have really killed everything. The only way I plan on continuing any level of hostility is if Dem really feels these people would just gun my ship commander down, in which case my troops and ship will lay waste to everything in this system. (And if he actually does this im going to have to argue only a commander out of his right mind would ever do such a thing, and such a commander would not be in charge of a system trying to maintain its sovereignty.)