Comment on Why is the word "defense" avoided in reporting and rhetorics around Ukraine?

• Droggelbecher@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  What does it mean? I’m not a native English speaker

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  • spankmonkey@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    If someone attacks yoi and you hit them back you are defending yourself. If they keep attacking you and.you fight back multiple times you are defending yourself. In warfare that might involve attacking their supply lines and even entrering the territory of the invaders to get them to stop invading.

    In warfare retaliation would be attacking them a few years after they stopped invading or attacking non-military targets to ‘even the score’ or something like that. Israel bombing schools and hospitals in response to Hamas attacks would be retaliation, because they aren’t just fighting back.

    Ukraine hasn’t retaliated in any coverage that I have seen.

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