Yawn, another “journalist” doesn’t understand the word “decimated”.
Ugh, I know!
So apparently, Genghis Khan’s grandson, Batu Khan only killed 1 of 10 military-aged males in theses communities.
Now had he “obliterated” these communities, well that would be quite bloody, brutal, and evil.
Because it doesn’t only mean what you think it does?
Decimate Etymology Excerpt:
"The word decimate has a grisly etymology. It derives from a Latin military term meaning “to execute every tenth man in an army unit”— the penalty for a failed mutiny. As a result, some sticklers insist that the English word decimate should be used only to indicate “destroying a fraction of something” rather than “destroy completely” or “utterly wipe out.” Who’s right? This is part of a complete episode."The audio of that episode (@ 39:40): LINK
In short, the word changed from its original historical meaning centuries ago.
Let’s make him “toe the line.”