Huh. Never realized it before but one of the reasons I like Starship Troopers is it doesn't really have any glaring examples of these kinds of plot idiocies.
None of the conflicts in that film could have been solved any better with reasonable, adult communication, for instance. The mistakes were all just kinda normal, understandable, human mistakes. Despite these people all clearly being half insane in a fascist sci fi world.
It really grounds the film in its plot, where it would otherwise be too over-the-top everywhere. Verhoeven was good...