To: exodus
from dictionary.com
war :
a) A state of open, armed, often prolonged conflict
carried on between nations, states, or parties.
b) The period of such conflict.
c) A condition of active antagonism or contention:
a war of words; a price war
d) A concerted effort or campaign to combat or put an end to something considered injurious: the war against acid rain
That is the popular definition of the term "war."
Gang war, feuding war, me and you are going to war, war on crime, war on drugs, war for civil rights, none of those are a real war. Yes, you can get killed anyway, but killing is not what defines a war.
War is military conflict between nations, and the power to commit our nation to war is given to Congress.
Congress has not declared war on any terrorist nation. Thus, there is no war.
That puts the "War on Terror" on the same solid footing enjoyed by the "War on Crime" and the "War on Drugs." Just like those other "wars," the "War on Terror" is used as an excuse to strengthen the power of government, and to outlaw the very concept of freedom.
Wars are "Declared" only against sovereign nations in order to formally notify them that a state of war exists between two sovereign states. The Declaration of War is a diplomatic formality. A Congressional Authorization of Force fulfills all the Constitutional requirements regarding the war making powers of Congress.
Prior to the Barbary War, Congress debated whether or not to declare war on the Barbary States. Congress decided that the Barbary States were no more than a collection of pirates and to declare war would dignify them with the status of sovereign states. Therefore, Congress refused to declare war and instead passed an Authorization of Force.
As the Founding Fathers who drafted the Constitution were still active in Government when the Barbary War started in 1801, I presume that they knew how to correctly interpret the Constitution that they themselves drafted.
Likewise, the United States never considered the Confederate States of America to be a sovereign nation and war was never declared by Congress during the Civil War.
At the time, the Civil War was referred to as the "War of Rebellion" by the North. War was never declared against the "Rebels" because only sovereign nations merited the honor. However, it was understood by everyone from Abraham Lincoln to the lowest Union private that a "War" was being fought.
Neither the Taliban militia nor the Al Qaeda terrorist network were considered a sovereign nation and therefore a Declaration of War was not appropriate in this war. Like the Barbary Pirates, they merited only a Congressional Authorization of Force.
Whether or not you believe that the Confederate States of America was a sovereign nation deserving of a Declaration of War depends on which dog you have in the fight on the Civil War threads.