I generally support the use of military force in the following circumstances.
1) To defend your homeland from attackers and to pursue those who kill your civilians; or
2) To stop mass genocide or ethic cleansing, or
3) To prevent the proliferation of certain weapons of mass destruction.
4) To defend allies when they've been wrongly attacked by an outside government.
On this issue, I'm probably more "hawkish" than most Americans. I support giving our troops total authority to go into any part of Afghanistan or Pakistan and blow Osama Bin Laden's head off on site. I support the use of military force to put a bullet in the head of every member of the Saudi govt or Saudi royal family who financed September 11th. Pretty strong words! Yet I've been labeled as "anti war" by Republicans and the media.
Why does the media call people like me anti war? Simple, I oppose Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq and subsequent war crimes when Bush knew there were no WMDs there in 2003 and there were no links between Saddam Hussein and those who attacked us on 9/11. I oppose our occupation of Iraq because it's about war profiteering, oil, protecting the Saudis, and Bush's psychological issues with his daddy. Our presence in Iraq helps terrorists and hurts America's national security. My opposition to Iraq is pro American not anti war.
So why am I making such a big deal about the phrase anti-war? Because, it is a very big deal. Like it or not, if a person is labeled "anti war" the connotation is that you oppose war in all circumstances and that you are willing to allow terrorists to kill Americans with impunity. Thus, we must take our language back and distinguish between opposing Bush in Iraq and the phrase anti war? So how can you as a Democrat do that? I'll tell you.
First, state the obvious. Tell of all the instances where you support force, especially against Osama Bin Laden. This inoculates you from charges of being anti war. Second, change the frame on Iraq. When you describe Iraq as helping Osama Bin Laden, misusing our troops, war profiteering, aiding and abetting the terrorists, ignoring Osama Bin Laden, etc... you win the argument. Let conservatives try to explain why they help terrorists and Bin Laden and would have our troops die for a lie.
So the next time some media pundit tells a person on TV that they are "anti war," that person must fight back by 1) attacking the broadcaster as biased, ill informed, dishonest, or spewing Republican talking points, or typical of right wing media bias; and 2) Set the record straight by saying that you are pro war when necessary