What is the real meaning of euphemism collateral damage?
The term collateral damage, a euphemism for civilian casualty, came into usage during the Vietnam War and over several decades became entrenched in U.S. armed forces jargon. But long before the phrase was coined there were non-combatant victims of wars.
What is considered collateral damage?
Definition of collateral damage : injury inflicted on something other than an intended target specifically : civilian casualties of a military operation.
Is collateral damage ethical?
When an intended violent act causes unintended harm as a side effect, this harm is frequently referred to as ‘collateral damage’, in particular in the context of military action. Such collateral damage, it is often suggested, is morally less problematic than intended harm.
Can a person be collateral damage?
Collateral damage is accidental injury to nonmilitary people or damage to nonmilitary buildings which occurs during a military operation.
Is collateral damage moral?
Even though it is legal, foreseeable collateral damage is a moral problem not just when large numbers of civilians are killed, but because it is a regular and often adjustable feature of war planning.
Is collateral damage accidental?
2 Such analogy tends to sug- gest that collateral damage, even when many civilians are killed, will not necessarily result in the commission of a war crime. In other words, it is an accidental but not intentional killing.
How do you use collateral damage in a sentence?
Collateral damage in a Sentence 1. Collateral damage in their parents’ divorce, the children were not the target of the malicious slander but were hurt anyway. 2. The public was angry that innocent citizens were killed as collateral damage when the city’s military base was bombed.
Is collateral damage intentional?
What is collateral damage in military?
According to DoD policy, and in accord with international law, collateral damage is defined as “unintentional or incidental injury or damage to persons or objects that would not be lawful military targets in the circumstances ruling at the time.” Civilian objects are often basic infrastructure and vital to society’s …
Is collateral damage justified?
That is, it appears to imply that a collateral damage-causing act of war is morally justifiable only if that act’s good consequences (e.g., the preven- tion of harm to other noncombatants) outweigh its bad consequences (e.g., the harm done to noncombatants killed in the attack).