Problems and Solutions:
SITUATION: In the 1300s, the plague spread quickly killing up to half of the population of Europe in a seven year period. People didn't know the cause of the plague and felt they had to do something, so in a panic, they started killing cats, because, well, they had to do SOMETHING. However, as the cats were killed, they weren't there to eat rats which carried the fleas that were the real source of the plague, and so the plague spread even faster than before.
MORAL: Be sure you aren't making the situation worse by learning what the real source of the problem is before you act.
[This is relevant to the current possibility of bombing Syria]
jtg