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Kinetic military action


Kinetic military action is a euphemism for military action involving active warfare, usually including lethal force. "Kinetic" was used as a retronymic euphemism for military action in Bush at War, a 2002 book by Bob Woodward. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld used the words "kinetic" and "non-kinetic" all the time. The phrase is now also commonly used as a contrast to cyber warfare.

"Kinetic military action" was used by White House aide Ben Rhodes on March 23, 2011 to describe U.S. military action in Libya:

I think what we are doing is enforcing a resolution that has a very clear set of goals, which is protecting the Libyan people, averting a humanitarian crisis, and setting up a no-fly zone... Obviously that involves kinetic military action, particularly on the front end.

This use was noted by news media: "'Kinetic military action' is still hell" and "Kinetic Military Action No More".

U.S. Department of Defense used "kinetic operations" on a webpage about "Operation Inherent Resolve". It contained an interactive graphic titled "AIRSTRIKES IN IRAQ AND SYRIA" and captioned "... operations related to ISIL since kinetic operations started on Aug. 8, 2014 ...".

February 11, 2015 President Obama used "kinetic strike" in a letter to Congress. He wanted, among other things, Congress to "authorize the use of U.S. forces [against ISIL] in ... [ground] missions to enable kinetic strikes". The phrase was not used in the draft resolution proposed to Congress.

December 2, 2015 Secretary of State John Kerry spoke after attending a series of NATO meetings in Brussels, “There are various ways in which countries can contribute; they don’t necessarily have to be troops, engaged in kinetic action. There are medical facilities, there are other assets that can be deployed, there is intelligence gathering.” [1]


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