The 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S. and coalition partners stands as one of the greatest blunders in American history. The Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, rose out of the the chaos, throwing the region into turmoil that hasn't been equaled since the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
Interpretation
The invasion of Iraq is viewed as a significant mistake with long-lasting consequences, particularly the rise of ISIS.
Lawrence Wright reflects on the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and its coalition partners, characterizing it as one of the most significant errors in American history. He points out the profound aftermath of this action, especially the emergence of the Islamic State, which has exacerbated instability and chaos in the region, comparable only to historical upheavals like the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
In practice
During a debate on foreign policy, one might reference this quote to emphasize the consequences of military interventions.
Hubbard set up the Church of Scientology in Hollywood in 1954 for a reason. He understood that celebrity was increasingly a feature of American public life, and celebrities themselves were going to be worshiped as minor deities were in the ancient world. The idea was: if you could get them, think how many people would follow.
When I was trained as a journalist, as a race-relations reporter in Nashville covering the end of the civil-rights movement, we were strictly forbidden to use the first-person pronoun. There was kind of an electric charge around it. To come out from hiding and use the word 'I' carried a lot of fright for me.
That which is selfish is immoral, and that which is unselfish is moral.
The more images I gathered from the past, I said, the more unlikely it seemed to me that the past had actually happened in this or that way, for nothing about it could be called normal: most of it was absurd, and if not absurd, then appalling.
But the child's sob curses deeper in the silence than the strong man in his wrath!
The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community.
Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace.
Show my head to the people. It is worth seeing.
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