Parachuting Cats -- Unintended Consequences

"In the early 1950s, the Dayak people of Borneo suffered from malaria. The World Health Organization had a solution: it sprayed large amounts of DDT to kill the mosquitoes that carried the malaria. The mosquitoes died; the malaria declined; so far, so good. But there were side effects. Among the first was that the roofs of people's houses began to fall down on their heads. It seemed that the DDT was also killing a parasitic wasp that had previously controlled thatch-eating caterpillars. Worse, the DDT-poisoned insects were eaten by geckos, which were eaten by cats. The cats started to die, the rats flourished, and the people were threatened by potential outbreaks of typhus and plague. To cope with these problems, which it had itself created, the World Health Organization was obliged to parachute 14,000 live cats into Borneo."
--The Pursuit of Interconnections(PDF)

This is an excellent story about unintended consequences.

Unintended consequence stories abound. Consider the following.

• Iraq was our ally in the Iran versus Iraq war. We (the U.S.) gave weapons, aid, and expertise to Saddam Hussein. I don't think we intended for him to brutally mistreat his own people, form networks with terror organizations, invade Kuwait, burn his own oil wells, murder his own people, but he did.
• We supported the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan to force out the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Unfortunately, they turned into the Taliban, who we later went to Afghanistan to destroy.
• Central American, need I say more.
• Introducing mongoose(s) to kill rats, when rats threaten non-native sugar cane fields. Then the mongoose(s) kill native bird species. This has happened in Hawaii and other tropical islands.
• Propping up the Shaw of Iran, probably caused to some degree the Islamic revolution in Iran along with the anti-American sentiments.
• The creation of a weak, divided Iraq by the British in the post WWI era, probably set up conditions for a dictatorship run by an iron fist.

What is the point of that list? The point is that the next few steps in Iraq may have large unintended consequences. Decision need to be made with the future in mind, rather than simply the problem at hand. If not, there way well be large negative unintended side effects.

The problem is how can we predict the future? We can't. What can we do? We can make a commitment to mop up our own messes.

Interesting Links

• Alternet Too liberal for my taste but examines similar issues in the middle east.
• Great definition and essay
• Sanctions versus war -- Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist
• Cato Institute -- Logical Conclusions: North Korea, Iran, and unintended consequences