war of/on words

let's say a horrible crime gets committed. it's so bad that the leader of the nation announces it was an act of war, so the country's at war.

he sends the army to track down the gang behind the crime.

when they capture anybody, they call him an "enemy combatant" rather than a "suspected criminal," but they say he's not a "prisoner of war" because he wears no uniform and the gang never signed the geneva convention, so they can hold him till the "end" of the "war" without trial or any legal protections, such as right to counsel and assurance he won't be tortured.

at home, the govt bugs phones and raids offices and seizes whatever it wants to take and closes borders, and most citizens think it's ok.

see, if you define it as war, you can do all kinds of shit you couldn't get away with if it was a hunt for criminals.