Military Usage of "Collateral Damage"

[Fred Shapiro]

Jesse Sheidlower tells me that the earliest military citation in the OED's
files for "collateral damage" is dated 1975.  Here's an earlier one:

1961 Thomas C. Schelling in _Operations Research_ IX. 365  Measures to
locate and design our strategic forces so as to minimize collateral
damage...would not have, or would have only to a very small extent, this
'destabilizing' influence.


Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Public Services     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
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