“There are two rules of war that have not yet been invalidated by the new world order. The first rule is that the belligerent nation must be fairly sure that its actions will make things better; the second rule is that the belligerent nation must be more or less certain that its actions won't make things worse.”
"The Palace of the End" (2003)
Context: There are two rules of war that have not yet been invalidated by the new world order. The first rule is that the belligerent nation must be fairly sure that its actions will make things better; the second rule is that the belligerent nation must be more or less certain that its actions won't make things worse. America could perhaps claim to be satisfying the first rule (while admitting that the improvement may be only local and short term). It cannot begin to satisfy the second.
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Martin Amis 136
Welsh novelist 1949Related quotes
Introduction, Section II http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/blackstone_intro.asp: Of the Nature of Laws in General
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“Learn the rules, break the rules, make up new rules, break the new rules.”
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No Compromise – No Political Trading (1899)