'''Collateral damage''' is a military term which describes the unintentional or accompanying damage of material, property, and or the deaths of people who are not directly associated with the primary target itself<ref>https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/collateral%20damage</ref>. Collateral damage exists in almost every military conflict, up to and including:
*Damage to non-military material or cultural goods, destruction of dwellings or entire settlements such as from aerial bombardment, missile raids or aftermath;
*Mutilation or killing of civilians by land mines;
*Killing of wildlife and livestock.
===Legal classification===
In accordance with international humanitarian law, care must be taken to ensure that the civilian population, civilians and civilian objects are spared from collateral damage. An attack that is accompanied by an incidental damage is contrary to international law if the incidental damage was foreseeable and:
*If it had been avoidable by the application of practically possible precautionary measures in the choice of means of appeal and methods, or
==Consequences==
The first use of the term ''collateral damage'' took place in 1947 as a result of the investigations and reports made concerning [[World War II]]. Widespread civilian casualties and damage to civilian property were caused by strategic bombing of enemy cities in support of their war industry; as a result, civilian casualties were called collateral damage. Given the low accuracy of the bombing during the Second World War, it was inevitable that civilian casualties would occur. However, bombing attacks such as the Japanese bombing of Chongqing and indiscriminate German attacks on V-weapon Allied cities go beyond the definition of collateral damage, since these raids were intended to terrorize and kill enemy civilians.
It is the goal of most modern armed forces to exclude collateral damage as much as possible, because of the damage to an army's reputation, the hindering of military goals and objectives, or the altering of a future policy envisioned for the attacking country, the conquered country, or both. Collateral damage is often hushed up by its own political propaganda or shown as minor and unavoidable, while the enemy's propaganda over-emphasizes, exaggerates or even invents. Serious collateral damage often leads to the formation of an enemy image that can prolong a conflict, serve the enemy's propaganda, and continue to bring the civilian population into the target area to use as human shields against the enemy.
==References==
<small><references/></small>