One might object to the specific idiom "real war", but GP is right to differentiate between security situations that scare Congress enough to actually pass a de

One might object to the specific idiom "real war", but GP is right to differentiate between security situations that scare Congress enough to actually pass a declaration of war (which last happened during WWII) and more excuses to funnel more money to armaments manufacturers (everything since WWII, and quite a bit before). Just because we're murdering hundreds of thousands of innocent people, don't assume USA is actually under any sort of threat.