i have never heard of prison planet sorry! hardly think i'm spouting conspiracy theories here 
"always be restrained by western rules of warfare"? what a crock of sht.
an unprovoked invasion of a sovereign nation leading to the death of hundreds of thousands is in line with "western rules of warfare"
they make up the rules then break or change them as they see fit.
to quote the then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on iraq invasion "I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter from our point of view, from the charter point of view, it was illegal."
and i actually agree with you about "restraint" but that restraint has nothing to do with principles or any moral superiority. it's exactly as you said, if the US goes too far with its aggression the "political consequences would be disastrous".
the 'terrorists' simply don't have any facade they need to uphold.
Rules of western warfare meaning ROE, rules of engagement, or how we choose to fight on the battlefield. Politicians choosing to go to war has literally zero to do with how we actually fight.
We fight wars with 1 arm tied around our nuts. If the politicians actually worried about winning rather than re-election, wed roll over any country in the world with ease.
The iraq invasion in 03 was one of the most swift and devastating military marches in history.
No one does conventional war better than the US. Unfortunatley, we dont fight conventional wars anymore because our shit head leaders put us in fucked up situations and dont let us defend ourselves.
But we dont, because were supposed to be better than that.
And the UN, give me a break, the UN is a joke. Who fucking cares what the UN thinks.
