>>>Between the Benghazi attack on 9/11/2012 and the presidential election roughly 2 months later, Obama referenced Al Q as being “decimated,” “on the path to defeat” or some other variation at least 32 times
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>>FWIW the literal meaning of "decimate" means to reduce by 10%, i.e. to 90% of its former strength. The practice began with Roman armies.
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>>Many people wrongly think that to "decimate" means to reduce to 10% of original strength.
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>That's interesting and I wasn't aware of that, thanks.
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>Yes, what you described is the original definition of the world. In current language it means "To destroy or kill a large part of a group.... to destroy a great proportion. So the more modern definition has certainly been broadened.
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>(Not that you were implying this, but I certainly wouldn't offer that as a defense for the original quote from the president, given the context both he and his vice-president had been giving)

I wouldn't offer it as a defense, either - but it's certainly a useful weasel word for hawkish pols ;)