&gt; The US is not at war with anyone<p>Yes, it is. A Congressionally declared war, even.<p>People tend to get hung up on the mistaken idea that Congress&#x27;s power to declare war requires the use of magic words in the legislation in which it is exercised (e.g., that it has to use the words &quot;declare&quot; or &quot;war&quot;), but this is not the case. A Congressional &quot;Authorization for the Use of Military Force&quot; <i>is</i> a declaration of war (perhaps -- as was the case with both the 2001 open-ended 9&#x2F;11 AUMF and 2003 Iraq AUMF -- a <i>conditional</i> declaration of war conditioned on a determination to be made by the executive, but a declaration of war nonetheless.)