[ffgjgf1]

Aren’t wars (in the traditional sense) effectively banned by the UN? If war is illegal under modern intentions law what’s the point of declaring one besides self-incrimination? If you invade a country and just call that a “special operation” you can at least maintain some pretense of legitimacy.

[miroljub]

What is happening currently in Syria? The USA hast still some forces there taking control of oil fields in a sovereign country. Can we count that as war?

[racional]

Can we count that as war?

Yes of course, and I'm not defending it, but it's still totally different in both scale and nature from what Russia is doing in Ukraine.

At least on surface appearances the US isn't taking control of the oil and selling it on the market (the oil is owned and marketed by the autonomous Kurdish government which runs the region).

And unlike Russia, the US certainly isn't seeking to permanent annex the region.

[hulitu]

> but it's still totally different in both scale and nature from what Russia is doing in Ukraine.

Because if Americans kill people, it is an act of justice, of spreading democracy (see also Irak, Afganistan, Yemen, various Latin American and African countries) not a killing. /s

[racional]

You can call it what you want.

But the U.S. operation involves less than 1 percent as many ground troops as Russia has deployed in Ukraine.

And last I checked, hasn't resulted in entire cities razed to the ground, and 15 percent of the population displaced.