Since only Congress has the power to declare war, people who care about accurate language (especially journalists!) use other terms to describe troop deployments outside officially declared wars.
The US military has had names for nearly all of their operations since the mid-1960s, and these traditionally have been used by the press. Operation Power Pack in 1965 (invasion of the Dominican Republic) was the first one I found in my cursory search.
Major ones I remember from my life include Operation Desert Shield/Storm/Strike (1990s), Operation Enduring Freedom (“war on terror” in Afghanistan after 9/11), and Operation Iraqi Freedom (“war on terror” expands inexplicably to Iraq).
This type of framing is not new, and it’s not a conspiracy. It’s a bunch of language nerds making sure that they use accurate terminology.
It’s not a “war”, it’s a “special operation”. Anyone who says it’s a war is committing treason.
Since only Congress has the power to declare war, people who care about accurate language (especially journalists!) use other terms to describe troop deployments outside officially declared wars.
The US military has had names for nearly all of their operations since the mid-1960s, and these traditionally have been used by the press. Operation Power Pack in 1965 (invasion of the Dominican Republic) was the first one I found in my cursory search.
Major ones I remember from my life include Operation Desert Shield/Storm/Strike (1990s), Operation Enduring Freedom (“war on terror” in Afghanistan after 9/11), and Operation Iraqi Freedom (“war on terror” expands inexplicably to Iraq).
This type of framing is not new, and it’s not a conspiracy. It’s a bunch of language nerds making sure that they use accurate terminology.