We are not at war.

We are engaged in two major conflicts; neither of which can rightly be called a war.

The conflict generating the most casualties and headlines is in Iraq. There we are an occupying colonial power. Yes, our government says (and probably really means) that it would like to relinquish this colony once a suitably compliant and self-sufficient client state can be set up. But in the mean time, we are a colonial power. And like most colonial empires, we must deal with ongoing restlessness on the part of the natives. That restlessness will keep on going for as long as our occupation keeps on going. It may get worse and better in turns, but it will not stop until we stop.

But that restlessness includes no armies ready to take the field against us, no unifying command structure, no one with the authority to issue a general surrender, no one to reach a peace agreement with. It's more akin to an ongoing riot than to what the framers or anyone else in world history meant by a war.

The second conflict is against al-Qaida. A bunch of vagabond zealots who, again, have no army, are no longer centralized enough to surrender, and will in one form or another be around for generations. Regardless of whether you think a traditional anti-terrorist law enforcement strategy is the best way to combat them, they are criminals rather than an entity that it is possible to go to war against. We're very good at wars. If it was possible to annihilate them in one, we would have already done so. We already beat them in a war, depriving them of a secure base in Afghanistan, but that's as far as war can take us.

Why does it matter whether we call these conflicts wars? Because we make both constitutional and customary exceptions to the limits of government power in times of war. But those exceptions are meant to be just that: exceptions. And our current state is not exceptional unless our government chooses to make it so. Since terrorism will never go away, the war against terror may be proclaimed and renounced at will, any time the government wants to ignore the checks and balances that keep us a free society. Similarly, the conflict in Iraq may last for 30 years. It just depends on how long our government wants to maintain the colony. That is not what is meant by "in times of war."

•  True But This Can't be Said

  People just go totally blank when you point out that we've been hit twice in a decade.

  And they start seizing when you add up the total number of targets and find it's only 4 buildings.

  by Gooserock on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 09:44:00 PM PDT

  •  No such thing as "cant' be said"

    Some things electoral candidates shouldn't say. and maybe some others with informal consitutencies. But it's incumbant on the rest of us to speak difficult truths, so that eventually even the powerful but vulnerable will also be able to speak them.

    by Dvd Avins on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 09:46:28 PM PDT

  •  "only 4 buildings"?

    What happened to the embassy bombings in Africa? I know that that happened on Clinton's watch, so the wingnuts wanted everyone to think it wasn't important, but the war forced on is by al-Qa'ida isn't the same as the war we forced on Iraq.

    The most important point you make is that there are TWO (count them, two) conflicts (or wars, or whatever you want to call them) going on, not a single GWOT, or G-SAVE, or whatever they want to call it.

    by Danjuma on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 11:49:42 PM PDT

•  Gooserock is right

  in as much as most people believe what the media tells them and the media, who should know better, insists on calling it war.

  This isn't war, it's a power grab disguised as war.

  by Gegner on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 10:22:14 PM PDT

•  Abu Gonzales agrees with you

  During the domestic surveilance hearing, the attorney General emphasized to Sen. Brownback that "there was no war declaration" while repeatedly stating that the President was using his inherent "war powers" in defending us.

  Yea right!

  How can they say Bush is using constitutional war powers and emphasize that we are not in a constitutionally recognized war is beyond my comprehention.

  by Tomtech on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 10:30:17 PM PDT