A good example would be US war on Iraq. No one in US lost sleep worrying about getting bombed by Iraqi fighter planes flying over US cities. US military carried out whatever operations they felt like, and this all took place on Iraq soil, making it more of a "policing" than a "war".
The fact that the USA were so much more powerful than Iraq does not make it less of a war, though. It was a war and an unforgivable act, but the fact the USA got away with it doesn't legitimise in any way anyone else to be able to invade other countries without punishment. It does not work like that.
Actually relevant is a year later the vote about Iraq, in which a majority, 157/267, of U.S. Democrat Representatives and Senators were opposed. Left up to the decision of Democrats, there would be no Iraq war. I don't know how people vote Republican just 20 years later. That is lost on most people. I would know, I grew up in a rah rah Bush household.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorization_for_Use_of_Milit...