What is the difference between a crime and an act of war?

Griggnax: What is the difference between a crime and an act of war?
So many people are calling for Obama to send in the Navy to rescue the captured American captain which pirates are holding hostage in a foreign country’s (Somalia) territorial waters.
The Navy is part of the military charged with protecting our National Defense.
Is the capturing of this captain the crime of kidnapping, or an act of war against the United States?
If it’s a crime, should the military be involved in law enforcement, particularly if the crime is committed in a foreign country?
If it’s an act of war, should the military get involved *every* time an American citizen is kidnapped/taken hostage in a foreign country?

Answers and Views:

Answer by mucow2222
Somalia has no functioning government, so it cannot be considered an “act of war”

Answer by Water Over Gold
Usually you have to DECLARE WAR.

The U.S. hasn’t done that since WW2.

Pirates were a problem during Jefferson’s time…….there is no simple solution.

Answer by Desiree
no because kidnapping is an unauthorized act of taking someone of complete innocence. like if they are held hostage and tortured, it is a crime because it is against someones will. but sadly america has done this before. in your case it is somewhat both

Answer by zealot144
For a formal discussion of “war”, I suggest the following link, regarding the legal status of the conflict in Iraq (see sources below).

Viet Nam was another conflict that was never dignified by a formal “declaration of war”.

Yet, it is easy to see the 9/11 Twin Towers event as an act or war, right up until insurance companies refused to pay damages, as all insurance policies contain clauses exempting acts of war from coverage. The US government directed the insurance companies to pay, stating that the event was not war. Then openly asserted the need for defense and invaded Iraq. But, that was/is not “war”.

Thus, we find ourselves in a decades long political denial of war as the armed conflict of nations. If war is not declared, then war does not exist.

Oddly, the things permitted in time of war (when war is “declared”) are not permissible unless declared, but things not permitted in peace (when war is not “declared”) are permissible. Thus, the Orwellian doublespeak is realized.

In Somalia, there is no war. There is no global “threat” perceived. In Iraq, a global threat was perceived, so combat was rationalized. Thus, in the absence of “war”, we fight and kill and harm our youth.

Click on the second link in “source” below, and you will find my response to our government for the past half century.

Work to make it better. Stop expecting it to save you. Stop planning on unemployment insurance. Stop the government from taking your life away. Stop expecting it to protect you. Expect it to protect itself.

Chase it, like I did as a war protester in the early seventies. Change it, like Obama only wishes he could. Resist it. And then, pray. Like I did.

Good luck!