And pointing to some surprising veritas among the Faithful Christian Scientists:
...Meanwhile, kinetic is moving in other directions, too. "Afghanistan's kinetic action" was the somewhat cryptic headline on a piece the other day in Stars and Stripes, the independent news source for the US military community.
The lead was a little more enlightening, if not heartening: "Taliban fighters have turned increasingly to roadside bombs and other deadly tactics to combat U.S. soldiers and other NATO-led troops in southern Afghanistan, military officials say."
With such a grim story, no wonder there was a resort to euphemism.
By contrast, a "nonkinetic" operation is one with no shooting or bombing.
Thus the Navy Times quoted Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, commander of 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, on efforts to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia: "The most effective measures we've seen ... are non-kinetic..."
Unfortunately, those non-kinetic solutions don't make money for the Gipper, do they?
In difficult economic times we must prioritize:
...Five programs account for half of the growth in weapons spending, Gates said. The five programs are Boeing’s Future Combat Systems; General Dynamics’ and Northrop Grumman’s Virginia-class attack submarines; Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; the Pentagon’s primary satellite-launch program, which is an effort shared by Lockheed Martin and Boeing; and a multi-contractor program to destroy the U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons.
It's a no-brainer what gets cut out of that list.
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