World history is rife with massacres, slaughters, ethnic cleansings and genocides. Within the scope of a graduate course I am taking on diplomatic history, I have been reading on mass deportations and massacres for the past few week. My reading process unfortunately coincided with the Beirut and Paris attacks.
How one names an event of mass killing depends on the political stance of that particular person. But the way the event is named does not change the fact that scores of people had been slaughtered under a political agenda.
Every specific issue entails a specific set of vocabulary. Below are some words that are frequently used while describing the atrocious processes of mass killing of human beings:
contemptuous: manifesting, feeling, or expressing deep hatred or disapproval.
to obliterate: to remove utterly from recognition or memory; to remove from existence; destroy utterly all trace, indication, or significance of.
to abet: to help, encourage, or support someone in a criminal act.
to emaciate: to cause to lose flesh so as to become very thin.
dilapidated: decayed, deteriorated, or fallen into partial ruin especially through neglect or misuse; in very bad condition because of age or lack of care.
travail: work especially of a painful or laborious nature: a physical or mental exertion or piece of work; agony, torment.
stench: a very bad smell
Note: All definitions are taken from Merriam-Webster online dictionary @ http://www.merriam-webster.com/
Emre Baran 
Very true. I read this and I kept thinking about Orwell’s essay entitled “Politics and the English Language.” He uses examples like “pacification” (which means the brutal massacre of uncooperative peasantry by military forces) and “radical transformation [of Germany]” (which in effect meant the bombing of civilians, destruction of cities, and, if certain people had their way, the utter de-industrialization of Germany).
There is some very interesting work being done these days about the politics of reporting on the bodies of people. Even more interestingly are works that examine the politics of mourning.
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