Well, to be fair, we (as in the West as a whole, not USA specifically) sorta invaded and messed up them first. They understandably retaliated, which we use for further excuses to invade/manipulate them even more...

Probably because it's a relatively small target to attack while still gaining some exposure, such as front page on HN.

Agreed. It is kinda odd. I don't think that Notepad++ will be doing too well after this. Especially as they already had a blow from the exposure of those in-binary jokes.