collateral damage

collateral damage (usually uncountable, plural collateral damages)

1. (military, euphemistic) Damage to civilian property or civilian casualties that are the unintended result of military operations.
   • 1999, Dennis L. Soden, The Environmental Presidency, →ISBN, page 237:

     A certain amount of collateral damage and destruction to the surrounding environment has always been viewed as a necessary but generally undesirable by-product of military conflict.

   • 2004, Alice Hills, Future War in Cities: Rethinking a Liberal Dilemma, →ISBN, page 197:

     But the most critical tension concerns the need to balance minimal own-casualties and low collateral damage with operational effectiveness.

   • 2009, Ian Henderson, The Contemporary Law of Targeting, →ISBN, pages 205–206:

     And, most importantly, there may come a point when, by taking measures to improve the security of the attacking force, the increase in the expected collateral damage outweighs the anticipated military advantage.

2. Harm to innocent people that results from policy decisions.
   • 2005, Coletta Youngers, Eileen Rosin, Drugs and Democracy in Latin America: The Impact of U.S. Policy, →ISBN, page 339:

     What is missing from this line of reasoning, however, is a frank assessment of the collateral damage caused by supply-side efforts and whether this harm outweighs the unproven positive impact of current programs, which is likely to be marginal at best.

   • 2009, David J. Hess, Localist Movements in a Global Economy, →ISBN, page 25:

     Neoliberals readily admit that economic liberalization causes some dislocations, but they view such collateral damage as necessary for the longer term gains of increased productivity and efficiency.

   • 2011, Krishna Pillai, Essence of a Manager, →ISBN, page 32:

     Merely the existence of collateral damage – whether in war or in a managerial situation - is symptomatic to me of misdirected power and synonymous with a failing in the exercise of power.

3. Unintended victims of an attack targeted at someone or something else.
   • 2008, Michael R. Hamblin, Advances in Photodynamic Therapy, →ISBN, page 294:

     The versatility and specificity of PDT regards dosing and delivery may provide a far superior treatment and management of infection than antibiotics and minimize the risk of developing resistance as well as collateral damage to host bacteria.

   • 2009, Herbert S. Lin, Kenneth W. Dam, William A. Owens, Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and use of Cyberattack Capabilities, →ISBN, page 264:

     The possibility of false claims exists with kinetic attacks as well, but claims about collateral damage from a cyberattack are likely to be even more difficult to refute.

   • 2014, Hannah Alexander, Collateral Damage, →ISBN, page 86:

     “So we're talking about collateral damage?” He hated the expression, because it meant someone took life very lightly, but wasn't that true? That was the nature of murder. "I doubt that poor nurse was the object of our killer's hatred. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

   • April 5 2022, Tina Brown, “How Princess Diana’s Dance With the Media Impacted William and Harry”, in The Guardian‎:

     From their earliest childhood, William and Harry were collateral damage in a cold war between their parents, one that could turn hot in front of them in alarming ways.

Borrowed from English collateral damage.

collateral damage

1. (military, euphemistic, often italicised) collateral damage
   • 2012, Martin Walldén Jespersen, I forreste række - Jagerpilot i Libyenkrigen, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:

     Det er meget sjældent, at denne type angreb tillades på en dynamisk mission, da det ikke altid er muligt for kommandocentralen i øjeblikket at afgøre, hvorvidt de bygninger, der er for tæt på målet, er rent militære, og således ikke vil være en faktor for collateral damage.

     It is very rare for this type of attack to be allowed on a dynamic mission, as it is not always possible for the command central at the moment to determine whether the buildings that are too close to the target are purely military, and thus won't count as collateral damage.

   • 2014, Joakim Zander, translated by Andrea Fehlauer, Svømmeren, Gyldendal A/S, →ISBN:

     De døde var collateral damage.

     The dead were collateral damage.

   • 2012, Annika von Holdt, Pantomime, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:

     Var Jill det egentlige mål, eller var hun collateral damage?

     Was Jill the actual target, or was she collateral damage?

   • 2002, Klaus Rifbjerg, Tidsmaskinen: En rutsjebaneførers bekendelser, Gyldendal A/S, →ISBN:

     ... så længe de civile tabstal ikke ligefrem overstiger de 6.000 omkomne efter attentatet på WTC, kan de accepteres som collateral damage ...

     As long as the civilian number of casualties doesn't exceed the 6000 that died after the attack on the WTC, they can be accepted as collateral damage.