The Dictionary of Military Readiness XXV – This time including: “countless people”, “silent death”, “defensive attack” and “spectacular military coup”
Vocabulary criticism is essential in times of war. For reasons of hygiene, among others, I publish at irregular intervals a collection of words and phrases that are sometimes euphemistic, sometimes deceptive, and whose purpose is to accustom our society – all of us – to the unthinkable and to modify it, as quietly as possible, towards “war readiness.”
Key role as a partner
“Germany will play a key role as a partner in this effort. The first steps of cooperation will begin this year and may include visits to strategic bases and joint exercises,” announced French President Emmanuel Macron on March 2, 2026, at the base of the French nuclear submarine fleet in Brittany. The implication was that French nuclear weapons should increasingly “help protect” its European allies. (Which is why the paltry 290 French nuclear warheads now need to be increased.) And Germany, in turn, “will play a key role as a partner in this effort.” In short: From now on, Germany is no longer just the junior nuclear partner of the USA, but also of France! (Perhaps even someday with the option of “nuclear sharing”.)
Spectacular military coup
“Perhaps the biggest problem with this spectacular military coup: Trump has no plan for what comes next!” the Handelsblatt newspaper pointed out on March 2, 2026. They were referring to the illegal attack by the US and Israel on Iran. (Or was it perhaps a “daring move”?)
Silent death
The ship believed itself to be safe in the international waters of the Indian Ocean. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo – a silent death.” This is how US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth commented on March 4, 2026, on the sinking of the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena by a US Navy submarine. (1,000 nautical miles from Iran off the coast of Sri Lanka, at least 87 dead.) Anyone who criticizes Hegzeth’s “sinking the ship” comment as “lacking empathy” or even cynical should remember that the Secretary of Defense always speaks and acts according to the motto “We can do everything differently!”
Regarding the fundamental approach of the US military in its operation in Iran, he spoke also on March 4th: “Our rules of engagement are bold, precise and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it. This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be.” The consequence: “America wins decisively, crushingly, and mercilessly.” Any questions?
Systemic war
“For Putin, the war in Ukraine is merely the prelude to his global systemic war.” Udo Knapp of Futurzwei doesn’t mince words. But unfortunately, “the Western states, especially the USA, have decided not to accept this declaration of war on their very foundations. The West is still trying to avoid being drawn directly into the war and is [still] saying so openly.” And since “an escalation of the war seems inevitable,” the West should quickly “bring itself to the point of using its own ground troops alongside the Ukrainian army to drive Putin’s armies, which have illegally invaded, back behind Russia’s borders.” It’s quite conceivable that the journalist will then bravely sound the ultimate command for the final battle in the systemic war from the front lines! Because: “It’s still not too late for such action.” (cf. “To arms, comrades!”)
The deadliest fighting force in Europe
This is what Europeans, according to Senator and longtime Republican hardliner Lindsey Graham, are supposed to make Ukraine into at the 2026 Munich Security Conference – not just the “strongest army in Europe”: “We will sell [weapons to Ukraine]. You will buy them. Make it the deadliest fighting force in Europe, forever.” Commentator Nel Bonilla adds: “This is the unvarnished economic logic behind the US security strategy in Europe: Europe pays, America supplies, Ukrainians fight [and die]. The social costs of these geopolitical ambitions are now being openly discussed. French Senator Hélène Conway-Mouret succinctly summarized the logic of mismanagement in Munich. She demanded that the population now be told that it is absolutely necessary to invest ‘less in education and social services’ in order to redirect these funds to armaments.”
And this is just the beginning
“We even expect that by 2028 defence investments in Europe will exceed those made by the US last year.” This bold statement was made by the European Commission’s leading figure, Ursula von der Leyen, at the 2026 Munich Security Conference. “Europe has woken up. And this is just the beginning.” The beginning of the end! (cf. “New security strategy”)
An indispensable guarantee
“The reconstruction [of Ukraine] is” – again! – “inextricably linked to security guarantees. Economic strength will be an indispensable guarantee that Ukraine will continue to credibly deter Russia in the future.” (Which is why Ukraine will receive hundreds of billions of euros from the EU, which it doesn’t even have.) So said Chancellor Merz in his famous Paris fairy tale on January 6, 2026.
Countless
Ukrainians, of course, were, according to Chancellor Merz, “killed, injured, or traumatized during these four monstrous years of war.” This can be specified more precisely: The report by the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) from February 2026 cites approximately 15,172 dead and over 41,000 injured civilians. (Of course, the actual number of victims could be significantly higher.) – By the way: The estimated number of civilians killed in Donbas between April 14, 2014, and December 31, 2021 by Ukraine, according to the OHCHR , is at least 3,106, and the number of injured civilians is more than 7,000. The terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, claimed 1,139 lives, according to data from the Israeli social security institutions. In the subsequent Israeli retaliatory attack against Gaza, an estimated 75,200 people (the vast majority of them civilians) were killed between October 7, 2023, and January 5, 2026, according to the medical journal The Lancet Global Health. However, if the Chancellor was primarily referring to the countless Ukrainian soldiers killed and disabled, he might very well be right. Estimates run into the hundreds of thousands. Ukraine is slowly running out of soldiers. (Which is why “deserters” are “busified” there.)
Anyone who doesn’t share the official Western view of events is now considered a purveyor of conspiracy theories
Like, for example, the retired Swiss colonel, former member of the Swiss Strategic Intelligence Service, and bestselling author, Jacques Baud. He is to be sanctioned. By the EU. The penalty: freezing of his assets and economic resources, as well as entry and transit bans to EU countries. In short: deprivation of all means of subsistence – just barely circumventing national legal recourse. (And anyone who supports him anyway is committing a crime! Under national law.)
Networking
Recently at the Munich Security Conference. Matthew G. Whitaker, US Ambassador to NATO and Trump’s enforcer: “We are asking for European strength. We simply expect you to do more and not be independent. I think that’s the problem: Just because you’re strong doesn’t mean you’re independent. In fact, networking is more important.”
“Europe is supposed to rearm, spend more, and take on more responsibility, but this strength must not translate into strategic independence. The term ‘networking’ is merely a label for structural dependence: from NATO command structures to US-led commands to American weapons systems and intelligence services. The message to Europe is crystal clear: You may build muscle, but the nervous system and the brain remain American.”
Defensive attack
“What we also saw last night was a major defensive attack by the Ukrainians towards two Russian cities, from which the Russian side repeatedly terrorizes the civilian population here.” This, Tatjana Ohm succinctly summed up the tried-and-tested football wisdom in one word, on February 20, 2026, on WELT-TV. Certainly more elegant than the classic mainstream formula: “In their defensive struggle against the attacking Russian dictatorship, Ukraine returned fire on targets in Bryansk and Kapustin Yar with at least 50 drones.”
Author: Leo Ensel
yogaesoteric
May 14, 2026