Stardate 20010925.1124 (On Screen): Bonnie Erbe writes:
Let's call this operation something other than "war." ... I don't know about you, but when I think of war I think of daily, protracted military battles between two defined enemies, each with a government-sponsored armed force, repeatedly engaging in armed conflict until one pummels the other into incapacity and the loser quits. The problem is that she's concentrating on the
means by which war is often waged, not on what war actually
is. War is what happens when diplomacy fails; it's the last resort by which a nation or power attempts to impose its will on another nation or power. While the examples of this we find most memorable do indeed involve huge armies fighting each other, it isn't invariably necessary for anyone to get hurt in war. For instance, "trade war" is well named: it truly is a form of warfare. Two nations or powers have a disagreement about an issue in their trade relationship and cannot settle it by talking, so one side begins to use force, usually in the form of boycotts or punitive duties on goods.
War is any attempt to use any kind of force to accomplish a political goal after diplomacy fails. Isn't that what we're about to do? We're calling it a war because it is a war. The fact that Ms. Erbe doesn't like the idea of our nation being at war doesn't change that fact. She can't escape it by word games. (discuss)
