From the game of
Eschaton in
David Foster Wallace's
Infinite Jest. SACPOP stands for `
strike against
civilian population', and refers to
nuking (or, by extension,
aerially bombarding in any way) a large
population centre of little or no
military strategic value. IRL, the
firebombing of
Dresden is a classic example of a (
conventional) SACPOP, as is the razing of
Gernika. SACPOP against a relatively evenly-matched opponent easily leads to
escalation and
MAD.
See also countervalue.