An acceptable loss, also known as acceptable damage or acceptable casualties, is a military
euphemism used to indicate casualties or destruction inflicted by the enemy that is considered minor or tolerable. In
combat situations, leaders have to often choose between options where no one solution is perfect and all choices will lead to casualties or other costs to their own troops.
A small scale practical example might be when the advancement of troops is halted by a
minefield. In many
military operations
A military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operations ma ...
, the speed of advancement is more important than the safety of troops. Thus, the minefield must be "breached" even if this means some casualties.
On a larger
strategic level, there is a limit to how many casualties a nation's military or the public are willing to withstand when they go to war. For example, there is an ongoing debate on how the conceptions of acceptable losses affect how the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
conducts its military operations.
The concept of acceptable losses has also been adopted to business use, meaning taking necessary risks and the general costs of doing business, also covered with terms such as ''waste'' or
''shrinkage''.
The euphemism is related to the concept of
''acceptable risk'', which is used in many areas such as
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
and
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
, to describe a situation where a course of action is taken because the expected benefits outweigh the potential hazards.
See also
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Acceptability
Acceptability is the characteristic of a thing being subject to acceptance for some purpose. A thing is acceptable if it is sufficient to serve the purpose for which it is provided, even if it is far less usable for this purpose than the ideal exa ...
*
Risk assessment
Broadly speaking, a risk assessment is the combined effort of:
# identifying and analyzing potential (future) events that may negatively impact individuals, assets, and/or the environment (i.e. hazard analysis); and
# making judgments "on the ...
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Collateral damage
Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts.
Since the development of precision guided ...
*
Distancing language
Distancing language is phrasing used by a person to psychologically "distance" themselves from a statement. It is used in an effort to separate a particular topic, idea, discussion, or group from their own personal identity for the purpose of sel ...
References
Military tactics
Military terminology
War casualties
Euphemisms
Risk management
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