side.
One of the great pleasures of this episode is how professionally the official records describe an event that, in human terms, was a full nervous breakdown in salt water. The deck log is almost offensively calm: torpedo accidentally fired, investigation being held, anti-aircraft practice resumed. That is the bureaucratic majesty of military paperwork.
And in the more carnival end of the media ecosystem, retired French General Michel Yakovleff was quoted as saying “American officials should stop snorting cocaine between meetings.” NATO now sounds much like a group chat, trying to stop one friend from buying a jet ski during a divorce.
By the time Karánsebes arrived, the Habsburg army was already in a condition best described as imperial soup. Mayer’s research on Joseph II’s 1788 campaign emphasizes disease, poor preparation, and a generally collapsing military experience long before this particular masterpiece of confusion burst into bloom.
The overall effect is of a man trying to conduct war, diplomacy, extortion, improvisation, and cable-news performance art from the same swivel chair, with each sentence arriving before the previous one has located its trousers.
The United States may not always know how to simplify war, but by God it knows how to monetize panic.
For a period, the F-35A could not fly within 25 miles of lightning or thunderstorms because of problems tied to its onboard inert-gas system meant to protect the fuel tanks. That restriction was only lifted in March 2024 after fixes were implemented.
