Everywhere and (mostly) without exception, the test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) would be angrily condemned by the United States has a dangerous provocation, and the firing of a nuclear-capable ICBM would be treated as tantamount to an act of war.

Not today, of course, when the missile in question was test-fired from California by the United States, flying some 4,000 miles before hitting a test target near the Marshall Islands. The missile was identified as a Minuteman III, a nuclear-capable weapon which the US has 450 of in service.

Officials with Space Wing command insisted that the test-firing was necessary to “demonstrate” America’s massive nuclear capabilities. Even before the $1 trillion expected to be spent on “upgrades,” the US has the world’s largest nuclear weapons arsenal, capable of engaging in an extinction-level war.

That the Pentagon openly admitted the test was a show of force is particularly hypocritical, given how every test by regional rivals, even if it’s just to try to see if a new design works, is presented by the US as an unconscionable act. This appears more or less to be a direct provocation, designed to underscore America’s ability to wipe out much of the planet, amid growing concerns about aggressive US warfare.