The Unintended
Consequences of One’s
Actions
It is a wise man who takes into consideration all the relevant factors before drawing up his plan of action and then takes an objectively well-thought out step.
US President Barack Obama blamed former President George W. Bush for the rapid rise of Islamic State terrorists. He said in an interview with VICE News (March 17, 2015) that the emergence of this terrorist group was a consequence of the war launched by Bush in Iraq. “ISIL is a direct outgrowth of Al Qaeda in Iraq that grew out of our invasion, which is an example of unintended consequences, which is why we should generally aim before we shoot.”
During the tenure of former President Bush, America attacked Iraq with great military might on March 19, 2003. One and a half years before the attack, when there was news that the US might invade Iraq, I gave prior warning in an interview to The Times of India, (September 16, 2001) that the U.S. aggression would be counter-productive. And later events were to bear out my prediction.
There are few human beings, whether belonging to the political field or not, who have not taken such steps as have been counter productive in their outcome. That is, the action taken lead to a negative result, which had not been anticipated. This is true not only of the United States, but is perhaps the story of many countries and individuals in positions of power throughout history.
One of the greatest human weaknesses is the tendency for people to overestimate their own capacities. Because of this, they take such steps as are unlikely to lead to the fulfilment of their expectations. It is a matter of record that human history is regularly punctuated by stories of defeat or Pyrrhic victories. Perhaps, there has never been any victory which could be called an out and out victory.
The fact is that of the different kinds of socio-political and religious factors that are of significance in this world, there are some which work in our favour and others which do not. There is the frequent recurrence of the phenomenon of ‘unintended consequences’ or ‘undesirable results’ because people are intent on fulfilling their ambitions, without taking into account the external factors which may go against their plans.
It is a wise man who takes into consideration all the relevant factors before drawing up his plan of action and then takes an objectively well-thought out step. If the individual fails to proceed in this way, he shall have to bear with unintended and unanticipated consequences. This principle holds true for both superpowers and countries of a lesser world stature.
