Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-25222488-20160902003110/@comment-26420219-20160911094721

Also there is the matter that he whole point of the Warhammer 40K universe is about "There is only war". The Orphean War serves to justify the xenophobic tendencies of the Imperium, it is basically Australia 40’000, everything is trying to kill you unless you kill it first. If the Imperium had lashed out in blind agression they could have possibly vanquished the Maynarkh while they were still asleep, it serves as an exemplar that if you ignore the clues you have, calamity will surely follow.

In some way it is the same story with the Tau : if they had virus-bombed the primitve Tau, then they would not have to fight the Tau Empire now, it is the same with the Maynarkh, if they had acted decisively from the start, the treath would never have arisen in the first place. "Bomb first, ask questions later" should even become the Navy’s motto at some point.