On Thursday,White House press secretary Josh Earnest was asked by the press, “What does victory look like here? What does destroy mean?” A smug Earnest answered facetiously that he didn’t bring his Webster’s dictionary.
Today, Earnest managed to confuse matters further by declaring that “the United States is at war with ISIL” just a day after Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States is not at war with ISIL, but rather engaged in a “very significant counterterrorism operation.”
Katie Pavlich wanted to ensure that Earnest wasn’t caught without his Webster’s dictionary today, handily defining “war” for the press secretary.
Earnest: "I'll leave it to others what the legal, academic definition of war may be." (!) Debating what is is, what is war?
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) September 12, 2014
War: 1. a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) September 12, 2014
War: 2. a state or period of armed hostility or active military operations.
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) September 12, 2014
War: 3. a contest carried on by force of arms, as in a series of battles or campaigns:
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) September 12, 2014
War: 4. armed fighting, as a science, profession, activity, or art; methods or principles of waging armed conflict.
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) September 12, 2014
War: 5. active hostility or contention; conflict; contest.
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) September 12, 2014
It certainly sounds like the U.S. is at war.
@KatiePavlich Check. This kinda sounds like war…
— Shelby (@GreatShelbini) September 12, 2014
@KatiePavlich O wants to be known for ending wars, not starting. ISIS will be called a "police action," regardless of how it actually goes.
— BobG (@BobGriggs) September 12, 2014
@KatiePavlich to avoid War Powers Act in Libya, Obama said dropping bombs didn't even qualify as "hostilities"
— Brian Cartwright (@blcartwright) September 12, 2014
@KatiePavlich thats only one issue of WH. FYI…when you bomb someone= U R @ WAR. Trust me. ISIS is @ War with US. They have made that clear
— Mike Muckleroy (@MikeMuckleroy) September 12, 2014
@KatiePavlich Really doesn't bother me if they want to call it counter terrorism, but their responses to these questions are just dumb.
— Lee C Eldridge (@LeeCEldridge) September 12, 2014
You see, there's "War in the Middle East" (shakes head) and "War in the Middle East!" (smiles, nods) @KatiePavlich pic.twitter.com/MgITtONBJ6
— Kevin Eric Snell ☹ (@KevEnoch) September 12, 2014
https://twitter.com/mikem589/status/510494835800043520
@KatiePavlich @whpresscorps We are governed by children.
— Wayne Fielder (@Warwick7th) September 12, 2014
@KatiePavlich Well, if a country is actively shooting at an enemy, dropping bombs on them…yea, I'd say its a war.
— Al Schmidt (@alschmidt13) September 12, 2014
https://twitter.com/DrJoshMiddleton/status/510496614944092161
@KatiePavlich It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is #FBF
— Nick Vicious (@TheNickVicious) September 12, 2014
@KatiePavlich We're not "at war" with ISIS, we just want to destroy them and perhaps make nice afterwards.
— Stew (@SpectrePilot) September 12, 2014
@KatiePavlich War: 6. All above not applicable, if as a nation, you elect a crazy-ass president.
— Douglas (@DAL714) September 12, 2014
Join the conversation as a VIP Member