It has been absolutely, 100% clear for RL years now that this was going to happen. The timing was up in the air, but the fact of it was totally public.
None of that is relevant. There's no requirement that a strategic secession has to be a spur-of-the-moment decision, a short-term proposition, or a secret deal. Just because you publicly declare that you will do something does not mean that the action, and specifically the method and timing of the execution of that action, are automatically legitimate.
The secession should be done after the war so that no strategic advantage is granted.
I agree with this. But just because it was done *during* the war doesn't automatically make it a strategic secession.
The war was made to carve out Enweil. This secession helps achieve this goal. Thus, this secession yields strategic advantages. The rest is moot. Building infrastructure will be easier now. Nobles will be able to join. Increasing strength will be considerably easier with the significantly alleviated bureaucratic and logistic burdens.
One cannot argue that it isn't a strategic secession just because it could have been "more" strategic. Plopping a puppet colony in the heart of your enemy's realm is a blatant strategic achievement.
These are good points....
