spoliation (spo-lee-AY-shun) noun

   1. The act of pillaging and plundering.

   2. Seizure of neutral ships at sea in time of war.

   3. The deliberate destruction or alteration of a document.

[From Middle English, from Latin spoliation, past participle of spoliare,
from spoil.]

  "For raids to have an effect, as the Allies quickly learned, they had to be
   directed not against specific industrial installations but against entire
   urban centers. The Allied attack on Hamburg in late July 1943 was typical
   of the kind of spoliation that could be achieved. Half the city's
   domiciles were destroyed, as were 60% of its water system, 75% of its
   electricity generation and 90% of its gas works. Forty thousand Germans
   perished."
   Gabriel Schoenfeld, The Strategy Behind All That Destruction, The Wall
   Street Journal, May 8, 2000.

This week's theme: words from war.

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There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no
snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed. -Buddha

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