>If I'm reading you correctly you're saying "regular military drills" ≠ "preparing for war".

In the same way that going to your everyday job ≠ "preparing for retirement", no. That's only correct in the most semantic sense. It otherwise has a very strong connotation about near term plans.

>This is one of those stupid leftist arguments that only works when the leftist proponent has changed several of the key underlying definitions.

Well, I appreciate it when someone makes it clear they don't want to engage in a conversation.