Collaterals by Robert Shetterly

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Civilians killed incidental to the progress of war are collateral; those killed purposefully are victims of terrorism. Sometimes it’s very hard to tell the difference. Governments do one and call it the other, but get the desired effect. In other words, if an attack on a civilian population is called “Shock and Awe,” isn’t it really terrorism, even if you later call the dead collaterals.

The notion of collateral damage has larger ramifications than just that of civilians run over in the way of military/economic objectives. Western civilization is based on a linear idea of progress that requires the euphemistic “development of resources.” Blowing the tops off mountains, grinding up the great forests, depleting the seas of fish, creating a mass extinction by habitat destruction, poisoning the earth, air and water, injecting a toxic brew of chemicals into the body of every living creature in the world, this is the collateral damage of a culture of consumption and increasing profit.

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