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In a democracy buying votes is a weapon. Specifically, the type of weapon that tends to get banned by international treaties, that's the whole reason why it's such a taboo / is seen as "burning of the commons". I don't think civilian infra is a good analogy, unless it can be show there's a direct connection of it to performance on the battlefield. It's relatively easy to take the high road and not retaliate against pointless cruelty, it's another thing entirely to take the high road over something that gives your enemy an actual strategic advantage.
I also disagree this is not a war, and I don't think it's specifically an American thing, the entire western world seems locked in the same conflict. Oh, and I'm not a burger.
The thing is, Trump does not consider it a bad thing at all. He's not saying "I'll retaliate and then we'll negotiate that nobody does this thing again". He just considers it a neat weapon. He doesn't care for the commons.
Destroying civilian infra does have direct effects on the battlefield. Russians mostly bomb logistics and energy systems, the pure terror component is magnified by Ukrainian propaganda; Ukrainian strikes are likewise mostly rational (plus some of it is retaliation for boosting morale). It's still bad for everyone because it incentivizes a race to the bottom where civilian suffering is disproportionate to the delta in battlefield results.
And the thing about that is, how long have we seen politicians selling votes? When was Social Security implemented? Medicare? Medicaid? 7 zillion welfare and various pork barrel spending programs no one has even heard of? I too dream of a politician coming in and, dare I say, draining the swamp, but this has been going on for a century or so. At that point it's just standard warfare, rather than something that calls for international tribunals.
But it's not clear if they are even buying votes. Gibs are the essence of leftism, redistribution is the bulk of their value proposition of egalitarianism. If you simply concede that it's the winning move in a democracy, you should focus on dismantling democracy.
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