What is a War? Q and A

A war is an argument between groups which has evolved beyond words to
blows. It involves death or a risk of death. It may at times involve Champions as between Krishna and Arjuna. The victor's, usually the survivor's, village or tribe wins the day.

There are different kinds of war. A King, or in our case a Chief Executive,
at any rate One Big Important Guy declares War, and all who have sworn
loyalty to him go to War with whosoever he's unhappy with.

There are Just Wars, Unjust wars, Wars ruled by conventions, or a simple descent into Chaos. WWI, for example was a mixture of a declared war and a descent into Chaos, as has been the current Gulf War.

Modern War involves conflict between two sides, coalitions of Governments who engage one another using Weapons of Mass Destruction. I did not come up with that definition, but I know the guy
who did. In the Viet Nam War there was some question about what American Conscientious Objectors were legitimately objecting to. The Judge in this case accepted this definition.

A massacre is an incident in a larger war. They are against the rules of engagement now, but in Genocide most wars are a series of massacres.
In the past, battles might involve massive numbers of troops. This was the predominant European form of war in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

The Yankees learned a different form of war from the Indigenous Americans, though it had previously been used by the outnumbered Celts against the Romans.

Next--Buchanon's Folly and Squaw Killer Harney