

Does It Help to Know History? - samclemens
http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/help-know-history

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goodcanadian
I am troubled by the ISIS example given in the article. The rise of ISIS is
not due to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, though having a weakened, divided
Iraq does not help. The mistake that allowed the rise of ISIS was failing to
support the protestors in Syria. The long term civil war and the chaos that
has ensued because of it is what allowed ISIS room to grow. Actually, to be
fair, even though I personally find it an appalling suggestion, supporting
Bashar al Assad against the protestors would probably have done even more to
ensure the stability of the region. In this case, I really think that inaction
was the problem and now the Syrian and Iraqi people are paying for it.

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Terr_
> [T]he cult of action, of being tough and not just sitting there and
> watching. But not doing things too disastrously is not some minimal
> achievement; it is a maximal achievement, rarely managed.

I feel like there _ought_ to be a superb Havelock Vetinari quote for this,
something about how people foolishly seek even wrongful action over inaction.
Since I can't find it:

> "Putting up a statue to someone who tried to stop a war is not very, um,
> statuesque. Of course, if you had butchered five hundred of your own men out
> of arrogant carelessness, we'd be melting the bronze already."

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Rozenjay
knowledge helps, regardless of its kind.

