The only people concerned with the definitions of "war," "police action," "conflict," etc. are those folk who are umteen hundred/thousand miles away from the smell of cordite, torn flesh and scorched blood. For those semanticians, it's an intellectual matter, while for those whose olfactory senses are put to the worst test it does not matter what label is tacked to the hell around you.

Armchair quarterbacking is an American tradition. It's easy to sit at a distance, away from the contact and come with the shoulda, woulda, coulda for any situation. It's even easier to create rules that don't affect whether you or yours will live or die by virtue of their image to others.

I personally don't have any problem with Pres. Obama meeting with any head-of-state on the planet - friend, foe, ally or fence rider. That's part of his job. I don't even have a problem with him meeting anyone more than halfway, and if he or anyone in his entourage screws up with a piece of local protocol or does something the French think is diplomatically dumb, big deal! What I hope he doesn't do is get himself snookered like Pres. Roosevelt (regarding Japan) did in 1941. As long as he realizes these folk are more sly and cunning, smarter (never underestiimate the other guy!)and more experienced at international politics than he or his entourage is, then it's okay.