dirty war

American  

noun

dirty wars plural

1. a war conducted by the military or secret police of a regime against revolutionary and terrorist insurgents and marked by the regime's use of kidnapping, torture, and murder, with members of the civilian population often the victims.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dirty wars
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dirty war

For Moreno Ocampo, the politics of the dirty war were personal and familial.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2023

The speaker said that the matter had to be investigated and responsibility for the targeting established so that what he termed “the dirty war against the independence movement” could be put to an end.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 14, 2020

They say they are tired and want to take the lead in denouncing what they call a dirty war.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 7, 2018

Historians call this period of disappearances the dirty war.

From New York Times ● Nov. 20, 2017

He told the BBC: "I think it's very ironic that we've had talk of a dirty war, and we've had talks of dirty deals, and we've talks of dirty peace."

From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2014