Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-26822171-20151123094003/@comment-26822171-20151124014256

Getting Ironwood out of the way might be part of the whole war plan. Or the war could lead to her taking power. Cinder's a schemer, so she wouldn't just start up an intercontinental conflict for no reason.

Also, war creates fear, anger and other assorted negative emotions, and Grimm are lured by them straight into the kingdoms and academies (Perhaps symbolised by the horde of Grimm stampeding through Beacon in the S3 intro). Cinder has the resources to deal with them, enough to make her appear as a hero.