[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

I believe the Constitution foresaw military operations short of war. At the time these were covered by "letters of marque and reprisal." Privateers were ships licensed to prey on the vessels of other nations with whom we had a bone to pick.

Yes, Ron Paul introduced the "Marque and Reprisal Act of 2001" back on October 11, 2001 (to "allow Congress to authorize the President to specifically target Bin Laden and his associates using non-government armed forces") and "The Air Piracy Reprisal and Capture Act of 2001" as additional tools in tracking and destroying terror cells.

[xzins]

Did anyone in the Federalist papers ever define the word "war?" Were there others in those early days who saw operations short of all-out societal war being legitimate objectives for our military forces?