[lhjn]

Not an English speaker, but the very fact you find it pedantic is making his point, IMO. It means their normalizing the word "war" worked on you - or it may be seen as such. Not judging you though, just my perceptions.

[refurb]

I don’t disagree.

I guess my point is we are well beyond “normalization”. We’ve been using “war against...” for the past 50 years at least.