War has a specific legal meaning. The US had not been at war since WW2. Everything else is a conflict. War requires a formal declaration by Congress, which has not happened.
So, while I share your sentiment, there is a fairly reasonable explanation. Write your representatives and demand that they change that, if it is do important to can it a war.
Someone really needs to contrast this BS with the beginning of the Ukraine war, when Putin insisted on calling it a special operation or some such.
War has a specific legal meaning. The US had not been at war since WW2. Everything else is a conflict. War requires a formal declaration by Congress, which has not happened.
So, while I share your sentiment, there is a fairly reasonable explanation. Write your representatives and demand that they change that, if it is do important to can it a war.