At the Oregon Summit last weekend I was struck by how our Congresspeople, candidates and other speechifiers kept referring to the "war" in Iraq. In 1994 when Dick Cheney talked about how invading Iraq would be a bad idea (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BEsZMvrq-I), he used the words "invasion" and "occupation." Since he and his buddies decided it was a good idea, they've called it a war.

My question is, why are so many of us who think this invasion and subsequent occupation was a bad idea using the word "war" when we talk about it?