Biden and Harris say America’s no longer at war. Is that true?

US forces in the Red Sea had a busy day on Tuesday. According to a statement from US Central Command (CENTCOM), in less than 24 hours they had “destroyed five Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicles and two missile systems in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.” 

CENTCOM posted that statement shortly after Vice President Kamala Harris declared on a debate stage in Philadelphia that “as of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world, the first time this century.” The remark echoed President Joe Biden’s claim when he withdrew from the race this summer to be “the first president in this century to report to the American people that the United States is not at war anywhere in the world.”

Harris has been dinged by fact-checkers and criticized by Republicans for her debate statement. There is, after all, the ongoing US mission to counter Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, described recently by one former Navy commander as “the most sustained combat that the U.S. Navy has seen since World War II.”

While the US formally ended its combat mission in Iraq in 2021, some 2,400 troops remain in the country to “advise, assist and enable” Iraqi forces fighting the remnants of ISIS, a campaign that began in 2014. Even if it’s not officially a “combat mission,” these troops still take part in raids targeting ISIS, including one just two weeks ago in which seven Americans were injured. Meanwhile, around 800 US troops are still in Syria, mainly assisting local allied armed groups fighting ISIS. 

This isn’t safe work: Since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel and the start of the war in Gaza, US troops in the region have been the target of dozens of attacks by Iran-backed militias, including one in January that killed three US service members at a base in Jordan. The US has also carried out strikes targeting suspected terrorists in Yemen and Somalia. 

But none of this is “war,” according to the US government. A Department of Defense official, speaking on background, told Vox, “An aspect of military service includes serving in locations where hostile actions may occur. Those locations are designated by executive order and/or the secretary of defense. However, it’s important to note that just because a service member is in one of these locations does not mean they are engaged in war. The US is not currently engaged in a war and does not have troops fighting in active war zones anywhere in the world.”

Harris does appear to have carefully chosen her wording — “active duty in a combat zone in any war zone” — though this may not be a particularly meaningful distinction for troops facing an incoming drone attack. One could also get further in the weeds and point out that the US hasn’t formally declared a war since World War II, and that US troops in Iraq and Syria are still operating under legal authorizations passed in the wake of 9/11.

Beyond the legal hair-splitting, Harris made the comment in the context of a defense of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, and it is true that under Biden, the US military posture overseas has significantly shrunk from what it was under the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations. 

(Trump has falsely claimed in the past that his presidency was the first in 72 years that “didn’t have any wars,” despite the fact that he oversaw four years of combat in Afghanistan as well as major military escalations in Iraq, Syria, and Somalia. At least 65 US troops died in hostile action under Trump’s presidency.) 

After the forever wars

If the so-called forever wars aren’t completely over, they’re certainly being fought at a much, much lower level. 

Since the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the number of US troops involved in counter-terrorist missions can be measured in the hundreds rather than the thousands or tens of thousands. The number of those troops who are killed every year is in the single digits. The number of drone strikes and special forces raids carried out by US forces around the world is down dramatically as well. US political and military leaders have shifted their focus, to a significant degree, to “great power competition” with countries like Russia and China. 

For most Americans, this shift away from the post-9/11 era is welcome. But some critics warn there’s a danger of complacency in accepting that a certain level of combat — call it war or not — will just continue indefinitely. 

“The lighter footprint and the smaller number of casualties makes it easier for the administration to downplay these conflicts’ significance and keep them out of the public eye,” Brian Finucane, a former State Department legal adviser now with the International Crisis Group, told Vox. “It lets them off the hook from actually having to explain why US forces are in harm’s way, or why they’re bombing the Houthis, or what the plan is to bring an end to this.”

Biden and Harris can fairly claim to have presided over the end of an era of warfare that began with the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Afghanistan as well as the beginning of a new one in which US forces in the Middle East are engaged in a much lower but still significant level of combat with terrorist groups and state-backed militias, more or less indefinitely and with little public debate. 

Admittedly, though, that’s not as pithy a debate line.