[jack_squat]

Proxy war means no boots on the ground. The two of you agree.

[mrandish]

I was confused by the poster's comment:

> Behind every bush is a navy seal...

Which seems to imply U.S. military personnel engaging on the ground.

[salawat]

No, it implies every bush could be concealing very bad news given info asymmetry.

[dragonwriter]

> Proxy war means no boots on the ground. The two of you agree

To be fair, most actual “proxy wars” (e.g., during the Cold War) have also involved covertly-inserted forces from whichever (including both, where that was the case) of the two superpowers wasn't overtly involved.