[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

We have only declared war 5 times. None of the “Indian Wars” were declared, the Civil War was not declared, the War against the Barbary pirates was not declared, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Gulf War, Balkan War, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.

The War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish War, World War I, and World War II are the only times the U.S. Congress has declared war.

[sloop]

there is no specific language required in the constitution for a declaration

bush had one

[dvwjr]

Originally posted by: Anitius Severinus Boethius

"We have only declared war 5 times."

I think it was 11 times that a Declaration of War was issued by the Congress, not just five...

 1.) 1812  War of 1812          - Great Britain
 2.) 1846  Mexican-American War - Mexico
 3.) 1898  Spanish-American War - Spain
 4.) 1917  WWI                  - Germany
 5.) 1917  WWI                  - Austria-Hungary
 6.) 1941  WWII                 - Japan
 7.) 1941  WWII                 - Germany
 8.) 1941  WWII                 - Italy
 9.) 1942  WWII                 - Bulgaria
10.) 1942  WWII                 - Hungary
11.) 1942  WWII                 - Romania 

And just to forstall the, "see it was only five wars" - a declaration of War is against a specific nation-state. The Congress did not declare World War II, it delared war against six nation-states, three of them six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.

Please notice that the United States Congress did not declare War on Finland, which was allied with Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during WWII. I guess that the Congress still remembered the Soviet Union's attack on Finland in November of 1939.

dvwjr