I worked on the US drone program. The public should know what really goes on

Re:I worked on the US drone program. The public should know ... by jessaustin on Sunday December 29, 2013 @01:13PM (#6980521)

Would fewer people have died if USA hadn't interfered in Syria to the extent that we have? I.e., no constant media and political coverage, no arming the rebels, no diplomatic ante-upping games? It's impossible to be certain, but it certainly makes sense. What is indisputable is that further action on the part of USA will increase the death toll dramatically, as it has done everywhere else.

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Re:I worked on the US drone program. The public should know ... by yummyfajitas on Sunday December 29, 2013 @01:34PM (#6980613)

Further action on the part of the USA will always increase the death toll, like it did in Kosovo? And staying out of things will always reduce deaths, like in Rwanda?

I don't pretend to have the answer in the case of Syria, and I'm not advocating anything one way or another. I'm just pointing out that your model of the world doesn't appear to predict the past, let alone the future.

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Re:I worked on the US drone program. The public should know ... by ItendToDisagree on Sunday December 29, 2013 @02:24PM (#6980845)

How would intervening in Rawanda have saved lives exactly? Go in and arm the Tutsi's? Start killing Hutus? It is probable that intervention would have caused more casualties (including to US forces).

Kosovo is also disputed even in terms of actual casualties, let alone projected casualties, and is probably not a good case for intervention.

I fully agree there is not a good answer either way (syria included)... Just pointing out that your examples don't really predict the past or future either. Prediction in any case seems like a waste of time. (Unless you're The Doctor that is.)

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Re:I worked on the US drone program. The public should know ... by yummyfajitas on Sunday December 29, 2013 @02:52PM (#6980976)

How would intervening in Rawanda have saved lives exactly? Go in and arm the Tutsi's?

A group of armed Tutsi's is ultimately what ended the Rwandan genocide. So yes, that likely would have worked well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide#Rwandan_Patrio...

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Re:I worked on the US drone program. The public should know ... by ItendToDisagree on Sunday December 29, 2013 @03:42PM (#6981273)

Unless of course the support provided by a (Western) outsider had caused other tensions (warlords uniting or what have you), thus increasing the body count, which is one possible outcome out of many.

Genocide tipping in exactly the opposite direction is another (obviously unintended) possibility. Oh yeah... The rest of the wiki you link talks about that... Oops!

You can't predict a future that didn't happen. (Again unless you're The Doctor).

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Re:I worked on the US drone program. The public should know ... by jessaustin on Sunday December 29, 2013 @03:27PM (#6981181)

If you believe the judicious provision of weapons is a worthwhile humanitarian endeavor, then by all means create an NGO dedicated to the task. I can certainly envision donating to such a charity. Please don't involve the USA military-industrial complex in such a Faustian manner.

Also it isn't so convincing to link to a wiki section that supposedly proves your point about reducing bloodshed, while the very next section on the page describes 5 million people killed in the same area in the following decade.

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Re:I worked on the US drone program. The public should know ... by melling on Sunday December 29, 2013 @01:29PM (#6980585)

It's possible that the war might be already over if the US hadn't supported rebels, but we can't be sure. Someone else may have filled the vacuum. Consider that we weren't involved in Rawanda and 800,000 to 1,000,000 people were killed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide

Also, I'd be a little embarrassed to suggest that the solution is to not have any media or political coverage. At the very least, there should be more coverage on the world stage.

It can only help if leaders know the world is watching, their acts are being recorded, and someday they may be held accountable.

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