Why would Eddington especially in Blaze of Glory be unreliable.
He was speaking directly to Sisko, not his followers, not Cardassians, and not a federation jury trial.
If he says victory was close I'd believe him.
Did Sisko commit a war crime?
- Thread starter jonds91
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He was speaking directly to Sisko, not his followers, not Cardassians, and not a federation jury trial.
If he says victory was close I'd believe him.
Yes, that is my point. Sisko's statements about the Maquis colonists escaping are made soberly and in front of his crew and none disagree with that (although they were uncomfortable when the orders were given). Eddington has been established as lying whenever it suits him, and even Eddington never said the colonists were killed and I feel certain he would have brought that up in "Blaze of Glory" when he and Sisko had plenty of time to talk.
I imagine there were Romulans chomping at the bit to get into the war, like there were Americans who wanted to before Pearl Harbor. Sisko was right that if the Federation and the Klingons went down, the Romulans would be surrounded. Vreenak was one non-sympathetic senator, but what of Cretak and others? They're probably the ones who came down like Thor's hammer once Vreenak was killed. Even Vreenak I could see might have been waiting for the Federation, Klingons, and Dominion to be weakened further, before coming in to mop things up. Sisko lost it, seeing the casualty reports coming in, but, if I'm Federation president, I'm readying a territory and trade deal, maybe a warning about phase-cloaking tech, to entice the Romulans in sooner rather than later.
That's the thing about charismatic leaders -- half the time they're lying to shape their reality to themselves as much as anyone. When Trump says to Enrique "We are not paying for the wall" Peña Nieto that, "It's you and I against the world, Enrique," what's he talking about? Eddington was a complicated guy, but I don't take what he says entirely at face value. Victory on the terms he was expecting may or may not have been close, but then the other side could also have changed the game. Certainly that happened by a lot when the Dominion sent in their ships to deal with the Maquis threat.
It didn't seem plausible that every single colonist could have evacuated in time to escape Sisko's wmd. How many thousands of colonists were there anyway? What about the Maquis children? 
From what was shown, the wmd started to effect the biosphere immediately.
Sisko demonstrated in "In the Pale Moonlight" that he could lie and cover up his crimes and illegalities like any politician. Sisko essentially believed that the ends justified the means that he used to bring the Romulans into the war. Disinformation, accessory to murder, bribery and ultimately the cover up.
For Sisko, it seemed like an ends justified the means situation regarding his handling of the Maquis as well.
Because Sisko seemed to hate the Maquis with the same passion as his wanting to bring the Romulans into the war, it wouldn't be farfetched to believe that Sisko would lie and cover up the actual effects of his wmd against the Maquis colonists or anything else concerning the Maquis.
From what was shown, the wmd started to effect the biosphere immediately.Sisko demonstrated in "In the Pale Moonlight" that he could lie and cover up his crimes and illegalities like any politician. Sisko essentially believed that the ends justified the means that he used to bring the Romulans into the war. Disinformation, accessory to murder, bribery and ultimately the cover up.
For Sisko, it seemed like an ends justified the means situation regarding his handling of the Maquis as well.
Because Sisko seemed to hate the Maquis with the same passion as his wanting to bring the Romulans into the war, it wouldn't be farfetched to believe that Sisko would lie and cover up the actual effects of his wmd against the Maquis colonists or anything else concerning the Maquis.
Precisely and its doubtful he would have received any reprimand for it.It didn't seem plausible that every single colonist could have evacuated in time to escape Sisko's wmd. How many thousands of colonists were there anyway? What about the Maquis children?
Sisko demonstrated in "In the Pale Moonlight" that he could lie and cover up his crimes and illegalities like any politician. Sisko essentially believed that the ends justified the means that he used to bring the Romulans into the war. Disinformation, accessory to murder, bribery and ultimately the cover up.
For Sisko, it seemed like an ends justified the means situation regarding his handling of the Maquis as well.
Because Sisko seemed to hate the Maquis with the same passion as his wanting to bring the Romulans into the war, it wouldn't be farfetched to believe that Sisko would lie and cover up the actual effects of his wmd against the Maquis colonists or anything else concerning the Maquis.
Or it may have been that genuinely believed the Maquis colonists escaped with no casualties and didn't learn the truth until later.
Sisko didn't hate the Maquis however as much as he hated Eddington.
Sadly, many innocent Maquis might have paid the price with their lives, because of Sisko's hatred of Eddington. Sisko's obsession with getting Eddington may have cost a lot of innocent Maquis lives. Sisko's use of the wmd showed how Sisko's obsession corrupted Sisko's mind. It is sick, if you really think about it.
Even if there eventually were no casualties, for Sisko to place so many human lives at risk in the first place is kind of sick. At the very least, Sisko's action was unbecoming of a Starfleet officer.
I assume Sisko had friends in Starfleet command. If there were Maquis casualties, the admirals may have looked the other way, especially if they felt the same way about Eddington or about the Maquis.
Given the style of these colonies...there are more likely hundreds of people, rather than thousands. These are colonies that a single Galaxy-class starship could probably evacuate the planetary population in one go. Most of these colonies are only a few decades old.
There were Maquis sympathizers-the Maquis wouldn't have gained so many defections otherwise Eddington and Chakotay included.
I suspect Eddington also angered the admiralty for more than attacking Federation ships but that this security officer this grand stander managed to show up the admiralty and utterly topple the strategic situation with the Cardassians.
Eddington ought to have gone on the command track, he obviously had untapped potential.
I suspect Eddington also angered the admiralty for more than attacking Federation ships but that this security officer this grand stander managed to show up the admiralty and utterly topple the strategic situation with the Cardassians.
Eddington ought to have gone on the command track, he obviously had untapped potential.
The Maquis are only tolerated due to the Treaty preventing Federation and Cardassian military adventures into the DMZ. That is why it is called the DMZ in the first place. The colonist can fight each other, but the two large powers are to not go in there. Both sides began to tolerate single starships entering the zone to contain the Maquis, and Starfleet put together a makeshift blockade of the zone.
Any theoretical state Eddington had delusions of grandure for would remain just that, a delusion. While the Cardassians were weak because they were dealing with the Klingons, the Klingon would not stand for an independent power on their new Federation border. They would take the former DMZ as their new buffer with he Federation as the Empire attempted another expansion. The Marquis, at it height had something like 25,000 people across the entire DMZ and nearby worlds, and some 390 ships of all sizes and shapes. Most of which would be freighters and shuttle/runabout sized craft.
One should remind people that Eddington poisoned two or three Cardassian colonies (potentally more) before Sisko poisoned one Human colony in his effort to stop Eddington's campaign. And I believe Kirk would have done the same. Kirk would do things to enact balance and would resort to force if his bluffs were called. Sisko might normally have bluffed about attacking the colony, but because Eddington would call such a bluff, Sisko basically had nothing else left but to force the issue by playing Eddington's hero complex against him. Force a heroic sacrifice for the cause out of Eddington's ego to stop the campaign. It worked.
Any theoretical state Eddington had delusions of grandure for would remain just that, a delusion. While the Cardassians were weak because they were dealing with the Klingons, the Klingon would not stand for an independent power on their new Federation border. They would take the former DMZ as their new buffer with he Federation as the Empire attempted another expansion. The Marquis, at it height had something like 25,000 people across the entire DMZ and nearby worlds, and some 390 ships of all sizes and shapes. Most of which would be freighters and shuttle/runabout sized craft.
One should remind people that Eddington poisoned two or three Cardassian colonies (potentally more) before Sisko poisoned one Human colony in his effort to stop Eddington's campaign. And I believe Kirk would have done the same. Kirk would do things to enact balance and would resort to force if his bluffs were called. Sisko might normally have bluffed about attacking the colony, but because Eddington would call such a bluff, Sisko basically had nothing else left but to force the issue by playing Eddington's hero complex against him. Force a heroic sacrifice for the cause out of Eddington's ego to stop the campaign. It worked.
One wonders why he didn't. He acts like his fate is sealed, and so, in order to achieve greatness, he must join up with the Maquis.
Not saying that Sisko is blameless here, but Eddignton struck me as someone who needed psychological help, because he clearly was unhappy about his place in the Starfleet and the Federation.
Eddington did ask Sisko if he was let loose "where would I go? What woud I do?" "Can I bring the Maquis back(paraphrasing)"
Obviously he was fulfilled and happy as a Maquis commander and farmer.
He was a talented security officer and probably should have been on the command track but clearly wasn't happy with either the Federation or Starfleet for political or personal reasons.
Which leads me to another question-how many other Eddington's are there in Starfleet-talented individuals who are discontented or dissatisfied with either their specific lot in life or the poltical status quo.
Yeah and what do you do after that?
Whatever you want. Is it Starfleet's responsibility to hand-hold former officers through their career ennui? I don't think it is.
Go out to the frontier, lead a colony (Worf's adopted brother did). There's the Atlantis project, plenty of Federation worlds to work on, colonize and assist.
Apparently, "utopia" means only if you work in Starfleet
Plenty. Eddington was a johnny-come-lately when it came to authenticity. He learned how to grow his own food, but so did Picard's father and brother and Sisko himself. Joseph Sisko dealt with real, non-replicated food at his restaurant, and so did O'Brien's mother in her home. One wonders why he chose himself to deprive himself of these things before involving himself in the Maquis.
Happiness is not an entitlement.
