What is the purpose of military using words such as "collateral damage" to mislead or decieve the public?

What i am looking for is the purpose of the military using words that are misleading in order harm the public's knowledge of what is actually happening. I know that these words are supposed to make the reality seem not so harsh. But what is the military's reasoning for this? Are they using these words for the public's own good?



If there are any articles reguarding this topic please post a link.What is the purpose of military using words such as "collateral damage" to mislead or decieve the public?In WWII, they used to use a tactic called "carpet bombing." Naturally they did their best to hit specific targets. But back then a good portion of the bombs dropped were merely "close" to their intended targets. As a result stuff was destroyed other than that which they intended. The damage, destruction would have been considered "collateral."



Today we have smart bombs and missiles that can be directed into an open window without breaking the glass. But even at $50K a bomb smart bombs can't be instructed to destroy only the bad guys in the area, or to only blow up if the guy they want to hit is in the room. The same is true for missiles at $1.5 million a shot. No matter how careful we are, mistakes are made... we're only human, after all.



"Damage" is more precise than "destruction" in that the former is an "all inclusive" term that can range from a dent due to a piece of flying debris to total obliteration. The latter term refers only to the the worst case scenario.



The terminology is accurate. It indicates that stuff other than the target may have been damaged. Although, I guess those who never mistakes would have a problem with it. Parenthetically, the only people who never mistakes are those who never do anything. On the other hand, I fail to understand how anybody as perfect as they cannot grasp the meaning of a simple phrase. I suppose though, that it's because I'm merely a fallible human.What is the purpose of military using words such as "collateral damage" to mislead or decieve the public?
Actually, you've made up your mind wrongly and in advance, so it's basically a silly question. Professional jargon is hardly limited to the military, either. Terms like "collateral damage" aren't euphemisms and were not developed to mislead the public. They have specific meanings for professional use among the military, as in their professional publications. These terms of course get used by non-professionals, often inappropriately, and the military tend to use jargon when it might be better to speak plain English (just as your doctor probably uses more medical jargon than you'd care for). But that's all quite beside the point. Jargon has its uses, since a phrase like "collateral damage" can be used when the substitute would take not two words but an entire paragraph.What is the purpose of military using words such as "collateral damage" to mislead or decieve the public?In the world these days you are not going to have major combat where the only thing in the area are combatants. It's not going to happen.

Now if you are fighting a vastly superior foe, are you going to stand out in the field and try to overpower them? No! You hide where your foe is going to have to weigh the consequences of his reaction. This slows him down and ties up his responses. That gives you a better chance of survival. You really don't care what happens to the people in the hospital, mosque, or school that your fighting from, you just want to limit his reactions. If they decide to bomb you. They have taken you out. Unfortunately they took out people you were hiding around. Call it what you want. Collateral damage, strategy, a boo boo. It really doesn't matter.

The reason they call it something else IS sensitive people like yourself don't really want to know what the meat and potatoes of combat is. Its called killing the enemy! Sometimes he doesn't follow your sensitive sense of reality!!
I don't believe its misleading, what terms would you like them to use? I feel most are educated enough to understand the meanings. I also wouldn't blame it on the military, they use many different terms then the average person, they have their own lingo. If you have a problem with it or feel its deceitful, you would have a problem with your news source, maybe write to them and express your complaints.

I don't feel it makes anything sound better, or worse its just a term that most have come to understand.What is the purpose of military using words such as "collateral damage" to mislead or decieve the public?It is not to mislead or deceive the public.



It is a term that describes all kinds of secondary damage that occurs as a result of taking out a target. It could mean buildings, crops, vehicles and people. They are not the target but it is impossible to avoid collateral damage in all cases. What you can do is try to minimize it.



I think most intelligent people know what it means. Only the less educated do not understand it and thus feel deceived.What is the purpose of military using words such as "collateral damage" to mislead or decieve the public?
It is better they think to not use the word "mistake". It depersonalizes it. Many Americans are moral people. It would disturb them to think that our missiles keep hitting wedding parties etc.



People are not 'collateral' but you may have noticed the long term trend to treating them as such. When I was younger we had Personnel Departments at larger companies - now we have Human Resource Depts.



Companies used to thank their long term employees with pensions and healthcare in their old age. Now they just dump them on the street. The only people treated well are the bosses.



It is the same mind-set that has infected all parts of our society not just the military. The book "1984" used to be a reqired reading when I was a kid. It easily explains how a government and its media can use "doublespeak" to influence the way the citizens think about an issue. If you haven't read it yet - give it a shot. Or if you want to read a more scholarly explanation; read Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda man...That is where Orwell got the idea for 1984.
Collateral damage, means that it was an unintentional mistake. Like dropping a bomb onto a friendly or civilian house. No servicemember enjoys going to war. We are not murderers, we are trying to do our best in staying alive amidst the chaos. Mistakes happen, we are human and God didn't create us to be perfect. We are created in perfect human form, but not perfect mind.



In every war that was fought within 2,000 years...there has been unfortunate civilian casualties...always has, always will. We do our best to avoid those mistakes and learn from them.



Media and liberal extremists tend to think that we are murderers, or thugs with licenses to kill. Only if they were to be in our shoes and see what we have to go through.What is the purpose of military using words such as "collateral damage" to mislead or decieve the public?
Collateral damage is any damage to structures involved in a battle that were not a main target OR people who were not combatants who were injured or killed because of a battle and were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

What's so MISLEADING unless you're a borderline illiterate?
well i dont see how collateral damage its deceiving anyone that has at least high school education should know what it means.



the same way a janitor its Sanitation supervisor in civilian word everything now sounds nice..and pretty .
It has been used for many years now, and it is unlikely it will change.

In a conflict there will almost always be unintentional damage.
They use propaganda and alternate wording to keep public support, it turns out making war isnt easy when the people dont want it.
YOU DONT MEAN THE MILITARY YOU MEAN THE MEDIA, THEY ARE THE ONES MISLEADING YOU
If you are misled in any way, get a dictionary.
democracy is not dictatorship, war has to have public consent
I love to help you, but you would think I was trying to mislead you...........so your on your own