"riverman" wrote in message
...

"Keenan Wellar" wrote in message
. ..
I think you guys are getting hung up on semantic technicalities.

Actually, it's the other way around. I think ou are playing semantics
around the idea of when the US was at war. They were at war the first
time they took a shot, which is particularly obvious in a discussion
about US willingness for involvement in WWII as compared to other
countries.


Well, you can look at it that way, but I look forward to hearing you
explain how the term 'legally' had nothing to do with laws.
:-)

Heh. I'm talking about what meaning people associate with "being at war." I
think for most people the standard is:

1) You declare "we are at war with country x"
2) You gather up a bunch of weapons and hurl them at country x