People say President Trump has problems acknowledging reality, but by my lights the most factually disconnected statement of the many that were made in Tuesday night’s debate between Trump and Vice President Harris was the false claim that America is at peace.

“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,” Ms. Harris dissembled. Maybe she has been too busy with debate preparation to be briefed fully by the Defense Department?

The real story is told in a sampling of press releases issued just this month by the United States Central Command. That command is responsible for the Middle Eastern theater where Iran and its proxies have been attacking Israel, striking American bases and vessels, and blocking international shipping through the Suez Canal.

September 9: “In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed two Iranian-backed Houthi missile systems and one support vehicle in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. Additionally, USCENTCOM forces successfully destroyed one Houthi unmanned aerial vehicle over the Red Sea. It was determined these systems presented a clear and imminent threat to U.S. and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region. These actions were taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S., coalition and merchant vessels.”

September 8:  “In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command forces successfully destroyed three Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicles and two missile systems in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen. It was determined these systems presented a clear and imminent threat to U.S. and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region.”

September 6: “In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed one Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicle and one support vehicle in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen. It was determined these systems presented a clear and imminent threat to U.S. and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region.”

September 3: “In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed an Iranian-backed Houthi missile system in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen. It was determined this system presented an imminent threat to U.S. and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region.” 

September 2: “U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces, partnered with Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), captured an ISIS leader, who was assessed as helping ISIS fighters after escape from a Raqqah Detention Facility in Syria.”

Ms. Harris’s false claim of peace is an insult to the soldiers and sailors risking their lives every day against a deadly and dangerous enemy. It’s an insult to the family members of those soldiers, who are separated by thousands of miles from their loved ones, shore leaves postponed and missions unexpectedly prolonged. 

Her message is an invitation to Iran for further escalation. If Tehran can nearly shut down the Suez Canal, rain thousands of missiles, rockets, and drones on Israel, and also attack American ships and bases in Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, and Ms. Harris doesn’t even consider it a war zone, what does Ayatollah Khamenei have to do to get her attention? Use a nuclear weapon? Sink an aircraft carrier?

The American soldiers, sailors, and airmen killed in the war on Ms. Harris’s watch this year include Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher Chambers, 37, and Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Ingram, 27.  They were lost in a boarding action in the Arabian Sea. They include reservists like Sergeant William Jerome Rivers of Carrollton, Georgia; Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders of Waycross, Georgia; and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett of Savannah, Georgia, all killed in a drone attack at Tower 22 in Jordan near the Syrian border.

Maybe in some technical military bureaucratese legalistic sense these deaths don’t count as active-duty combat, but that’s the same misguided thinking that doesn’t give Governor Walz credit for his National Guard service in Italy during Operation Enduring Freedom. 

The anniversary of September 11 is sufficient to remind everyone that until the Islamist extremist terrorist threat is defeated fully, any part of America, even the homeland, can become a war zone at any instant. Until the moment of the attack, many Americans mistakenly believed our country was at peace on that September day, too.