Same as the right apparently, they have both declined to declare war.
I'm going to go out on a limb here, but I think I agree with ZB. First off there are wars and 'wars'. We've had a 'war on drugs' and a 'war on poverty' and many others. These are not wars, they are 'wars'. So the question is: is the WOT a 'war' or a war.
When you are really at war, it seems to me, you can't really have this discussion. It is blatently obvious who the enemey is, and in large part they are viewing you as the enemy and organized to fight you. For the last 500 years mostly these have been nations vs. nation conflicts, or perhaps militia vs. militia in the case of civil wars.
We are asked to consdier the WOT / Iraq such a war, but it doesn't really fit. Mostly what we hear good about what the US Army is doing in Iraq is 'nation building'. The USA and USA Army were involved in rebuilding Europe and Japan after WW2, and there were people opposed who caused problems. But, significantly, we didn't say we were still at war. The war was over VE and VJ days were passed.
So, to some extent I think Bush's "Mission Accomplished" marked the end of the normal, formal war.
If we are accept that we are at war with internation jihadi terrorism, I think that's a stretch. Surely we hate and want to defeat it, but are they really a threat that we can justify a war foooting for? Mostly the answer is no, I am afraid.
Many here on FR could point out chapter and verse what they say. So? The SLA/Weather Underground said all sorts of things about overthrowning the USA, so did the Red Brigades in Europe. Few would say we were at war with the SLA.
So I think ZB is correct, the WOT is really just a fancy name for something that is less than a real war, like say Vietnam or WW2. Until it is percieved as a real war the USA won't fight it appropriately.
I don't understand why we never declared war on radical Islam, or at least Al Qaeda. I remember Newt Gingrich calling for a declaration of war.
Why didn't we?
"they have both declined to declare war." OH REALLY - PERHAPS YOUR DEFINITION IS TO NARROW. WHERE IS THE APPROVED FORM SPECIFIED IN THE CONSTITUTION ?