suicide mission

English

suicide mission (plural suicide missions)

(chiefly military) A task which is so dangerous for the people involved that they are not expected to survive.
- 1958 November, Marion Zimmer Bradley, “The Planet Savers”, in Amazing Stories‎^[1]:
  He said savagely, "We're apt to catch it anyway—here. You're immune, you don't care, you're safe! The rest of us are on a suicide mission—and damn it, when I die I want to take a few of those monkeys with me!"
- 2004 October 16, Dan Glaister, “Doubts about US morale in Iraq as troops refuse 'suicide mission'”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:
  The soldiers, from a unit north of Baghdad, told family members that they considered the convoy destined for Taji to be a "suicide mission", citing the poor condition of their vehicles and the absence of ground and air support to protect the convoy.