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Unlike 'passing away', 'collateral damage' is a malign
euphemism - Orwellian doublespeak - for 'civilian casualty'.
The phrase hides the fact that men, women, and children
were killed in bombing attacks and tries to suggest that
they were killed 'unintentionally'. To describe human beings
whose life has been snuffed out by bombs as 'damage' is
repugnant to many people. It is to me.
The claim that the killing was 'unintentional' is important
to the killer. It makes the killing of civilians in war all
right - at least to proponents of the Christian Just-War
Ethic (JWE): "When we do a thing [warfaring] for a good and
lawful purpose, if thereby we unintentionally cause harm to
anyone, it should by no means be imputed to us", wrote Augustine
1500 years ago. Thus 'unintended' (incidental) effects on
civilians can be discounted.
That's why the US military insists on 'unintended' when it
kills civilians. They are all good Christians - the military.
'Collateral damage' dates back to the Vietnam war. The
US killed three million Vietnamese in that war - all
'collateral damage'.
Originally 'collateral damage' referred to human beings
only. Now the military uses it to include damage to
civilian buildings. For example: 'The GWAPS therefore openly
states where collateral damage was caused...'
Here is a poem about the life behind 'collateral damage':
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Arguments Against the Bombing
consider the infinite fragility of an infant's skull
how the bones lie soft and open
only time knitting them shut
consider a delicate porcelain bowl
how it crushes under a single blow
in one moment whole years disappear
consider that beneath the din of explosions
no song can be heard
no cry
consider your own sky on fire
your name erased
your children's lives 'a price worth paying'
consider the faces you do not see
the eyes you refuse to meet
'collateral damage'
how in these words
the world cracks open
Illustration by Emily Johns
_________________________________________________________________
Poem by Lisa Suhair Majaj.
First published in Al Jadid, Winter 1998.
Illustration by Emily Johns
_________________________________________________________________
collateral damage: ordinary people who are killed in war.
['Collateral damage' is a phrase used by the military so that we
don't think about the fact that military action kills innocent
people.]
new internationalist
issue 316 - September 1999
_________________________________________________________________
--Elga Sutter
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