Jargon Watch: War vs Military Action

ask on 2003-01-18T01:22:39

When terrorists does terrorist acts on "us", it's called War. When the US attacks another country it's called Military Action. What's up with that? I thought it was called war when one country declares, er, fight with another. Why is it not called war? Too loaded?

The war on terrorism is much more than just shooting and bombing, having sensible foreign policies for starters. Why is that not called action? Not loaded enough?

Original entry with images and comments and stuff....