WAR!!!

What does the term "war" mean today? The unrest in the Caucasus is unending, however, the out right aggression by Georgia against those who believe they are part of South Ossetia, and Russia's reaction did lead to military movements, bombings, dead bodies, ceasefire negotiations and other signs and symptoms of a war; however, was it actually a war?

There are two main ways of looking at this question, first, certain things feel like war to the participants and thus it is a war (the Korean "War" when it was actually a police action), second, that war is what we say it is. I do not like either option and I doubt anyone would agree there is some transcendental definition of "war" out there to which all wars must adhere or else they are some other conflict.

A list of a few things that are not sufficient conditions for war, simply having military operations, a country's military attacking another country (Civilian population or otherwise), the overthrow of another country's government, all references to "against (undesirable social ill)", deaths at the hands of governmental agents (Covert or Overt ops; internal or external), this list is neither dispositive nor exhaustive, simply an attempt at getting some of the commonly used ones out of the way.

I would also venture to say that having a declaration of war is no longer a sufficient condition nor is it a necessary condition for war; such a declaration has almost become irrelevant anyway.

So, what the hell is "War"? I haven't a clue...