Starfleet - war criminals? (Sisko and Starfleet Command)

[Bad Thoughts]

You're comparing raids that were planned up and down the chain of command, authorized by numerous sources, etc... to ONE random captain deciding it would be cool to make a planet uninhabitable.

If anything, this was just really, really bad writing.

You do realize that in Star Trek, it is the captain who matters? How many episodes is it where the captain who makes key decisions, usually because Starfleet is too removed from the situation to act in a timely manner? You do realize that it was Kirk who threatened to level an entire planet (Taste of Armaggedon) and escalate a war (Private Little War)? Yes, it may be a flaw of the story, but it is not one particular to this episode or to this series.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Yes he did, or at least he made the planet uninhabitable, which is above and beyond the consequences of a "zippo raid" (which were awful enough). One necessitates rebuilding one's home, the other ensures you'll never be able to do so again.

So the Cardassians who moved there were going to suffocate?

Er, no, it isn't. Starfleet's track record is.

Secondly a lack of legal consequences in war means little, the vast majority of wrongs that occur go untried, especially for the winning side. Nonetheless what happened was wrong and the British government, have formally apologised, as has the Queen.

The thread quite literally asks if they are war criminals. How such a designation has been used is completely relevant.

 

[Spot261]

So the Cardassians who moved there were going to suffocate?

Don't be obtuse, it was humans on the planet, he sterilised it as far as human populations were concerned. They would never again build homes there. That is not even akin to a zippo raid. Both are awful - one, however, is only temporary.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Maquis were given time to evacuate. And they simply switched planets with the Cardassians - no casualties that we are aware of.

 

[Voth commando1]

They wanted the audience to think Sisko was a badass m*********** and not someone who probably ended up killing lots of women and children on a personal vendetta to get one man.

It's incredibly offensive and disgusting to anybody with a conscience, he'll I'd rather watch Picard or Archer stand aside in orbit and let a civilization die screams and all then that.

 

[Spot261]

The Maquis were given time to evacuate. And they simply switched planets with the Cardassians - no casualties that we are aware of.

But Sisko had no way of ensuring that - he barely tried. The fact it seemingly turned out bloodlessly does not alter the fact it could have gone horribly wrong. Even if the weapon had not caused deaths the panic of a mass evacuation could easily have led to them. Sisko gambled with human lives and got lucky.

I'm not a fan of the Maquis position but this was not a responsible way to deal with them, or more crucially to deal with Eddington. It was personal, the whole episode set that up, everything about Sisko's motivations as portrayed made that clear. He took it upon himself to actively depopulate a planet and poison it for any human beings who might chance upon it in years to come without making any effort to really ensure the safety of the evacuees, because Eddington had got one over on him and he was angry.

 

[Voth commando1]

He was mad Eddington played him for a fool and has the gall to let the game end there. Sisko couldn't accept defeat. So he behaved in a manner that probably would have left Kirk ashamed.

I can't honestly imagine myself not resigning afterwards if I was on the defiant. Sisko behaved no better than the cardassians or Romulans.

 

[TheSublimeGoose]

You do realize that it was Kirk who threatened to level an entire planet...

I rest my case.

 

[Voth commando1]

I don't recall that episode unless you mean mirror Kirk.

 

[Prax]

Also there's the time Sisko utilized bio-weapons on a defenseless planet....

...and just got lucky that he didn't kill anyone.

Seriously, was he assuming the Maquis, all the women and children, were waiting to evacuate the planet?

lol. He also calls them "Maquis planets" As if all Federation colonies in the DMZ are now "Maquis planets."

And he's just gonna destroy them one..by..one until he gets his Valjean.

No one who planned or conducted those raids over German cities were ever accused, let alone convicted, of a war crime (that is the subject of this thread, no?).

What the British bombers did in WW2 was most certainly a war crime. They were also the victors, which I suppose can make all the difference. If Sisko's plan for the Romulans had backfired(which it easily should have), The Federation would have to have held someone responsible. We all know who would've been the scapegoat. I say scapegoat only because SFC was complicit.

 

[Kemaiku]

I don't recall that episode unless you mean mirror Kirk.

Nope, Kirk threatened a General Order twice that requires a starship to render a planet lifeless unless the captain gives the counter order. It's meant to be enforced by the ships weapons when the time limit is up.

 

[Voth commando1]

Ep names?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ A Taste of Armageddon

lol. He also calls them "Maquis planets" As if all Federation colonies in the DMZ are now "Maquis planets."

The Maquis did not strike me as the type who would tolerate any of their fellow colonists refusing to join "the struggle".

 

[Voth commando1]

Or maybe the all the colonists supported the Maquis to the hilt.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Unlikely.

 

[BillJ]

^ A Taste of Armageddon

That coupled with the idea of a forced treaty port, doesn't portray Starfleet and the Federation in the best light.

 

[Voth commando1]

It's possible there have been movements with 90-98% popular support.

 

[Farscape One]

Another reason why Sisko likely avoided a court martial is support from other captains, like Captain Sanders of the Malinche. Given the state of his ship after Eddington attacked it, he did prove that the Maquis had become an intolerable threat to Starfleet. Who knows how many crew died in that attack. Sanders would most certainly have backed him during any inquiries.

At the end of the day, he got the job done, and disrupted the Maquis enough to not only lose one of their biggest leaders, but likely put any plans on hold due to the evacuation of their planet.

 

[Voth commando1]

Indeed the moral bankruptcy of the federation displayed.

 

[Farscape One]

Sisko said it best... "It's easy to be a saint in paradise."

One of the reasons why Sisko is my favorite captain, and DS9 my favorite series, is because he bothers to take those risks. He makes the hard choices that will likely paint him in a darker light.

He is portrayed as just a man doing his best in very trying circumstances, and for the most part he walks away pretty clean. But he is not afraid to get his hands dirty if it means a better solution for everyone else. To me, that's one of the marks of a good leader... being in the trenches and getting just as dirty as those under his command.

A good example of this... "THE SIEGE OF AR-558".