critique discussion below
Sarah,
I think that the United States is at war with different terrorism organizations and their affiliates, rather than terrorism itself. Terrorism, I feel, is more in and of itself a concept, where there is not an absolute single way to define it. There are many ways to define terrorism, in fact US Code Title 18, Section 2331 (Crimes and Criminal Procedure) provides many different definitions for terrorism . I am also not sure there is a legal case where the US can be at war with a concept. It can definitely be at war with those people and organizations who support and partake in the concept, however.
In May 2010, the Obama Administration released their National Security Strategy, and it stated that “this is not a global war against a tactic- terrorism, or a religion-Islam. We are at war with a specific network, al-Qaeda, and its terrorist affiliates who support efforts to attack the United States, our allies, and partners.” Keep in mind this was released before the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which is why they are not mentioned specifically but you can definitely apply this quote to any of the terrorist organizations in existence today (Hezbollah, ISIL, Boko Haram, al-Nusrah Front, etc. (US Department of State, 2019)).
References
Crimes and Criminal Procedure, 18 U.S.C. § 2331
Harnden, T. (May 27, 2010). Barak Obama declares the ‘War on Terror’ is over. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/7772598/Barack-Obama-declares-the-War-on-Terror-is-over.html
US Department of State. (2019). Foreign terrorist organizations. Retrieved from https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm
