Look, the US would not hesitate to nuke China/Russia or any real competitor state if they thought they could escape being destroyed by retaliation. So it's not that they're above it. Or that they're not deranged enough to try and find an excuse if they think they can come out of it ahead. It's just that patrols around their waters are not going to push them to do it. If they intend to do it because they're backed into a corner and think odds are good they'll do it, they won't use a patrol as pretext as that's weak even for them. So it won't tip the scales either way is what I'm saying.