SFDebris discusses The Prime Directive

[Nutso]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_ZbVk_Dh9E
It's been up for awhile but I've never seen it posted on DITL. Chuck discusses the Prime Directive. This was a supplementary video for the Enterprise: Dear Doctor review. However it's not exclusive to that episode. It includes TNG and VOY as well. I posted it in the ENT forum because this episode prompted Chuck to discuss the application of the Prime Directive.

[Tyyr]

He's largely spot on with it. There's a definite evolution from TOS where it appears to be a general guideline that Kirk flaunts on a regular basis, to TNG where it's pretty set in stone but they could still discuss it to Voyager where its now entrenched dogma not up for discussion. Then of course you get to Enterprise where they follow it before it's even actually written down.

Did DS9 ever have any brushes with the Prime Directive in the conventional "Let a species die," sort of way?

[SolkaTruesilver]

He's largely spot on with it. There's a definite evolution from TOS where it appears to be a general guideline that Kirk flaunts on a regular basis, to TNG where it's pretty set in stone but they could still discuss it to Voyager where its now entrenched dogma not up for discussion. Then of course you get to Enterprise where they follow it before it's even actually written down.

Did DS9 ever have any brushes with the Prime Directive in the conventional "Let a species die," sort of way?

I'd think Genocide is a violation of the Prime Directive.

I also think that sending a terrorist to help shape up a terrorist organisation from within the Cardassian Union to challenge the Dominion was a complete violation of the Prime Directive, as it was meddling with their internal affairs.

Not to forget influencing a sovereign government's decision to break their neutrality agreement with your ennemy.

Replacing the head of the Klingon Empire..

Warning the Cardassians of the incoming Klingons...

... Darn. And the funniest of all, they were genuinely asking themselves the value of morality of these actions themselves, and not merely thrown and benchmarked against the frakking Prime Directive. Effectively, Sisko & Co. didn't let a written rule to make the morality calls for them. They were masters of their own actions, and faced the consequences of their own decisions.

[Mikey]

Dealings with the Cardassians, Klingons, etc. do not fall anywhere near the aegis of the Prime Directive. The PD covers interactions with more primitive (generally interpreted to mean "non-warp-capable") cultures - it patently does not cover interactions with the other modern powers of the galaxy.

As to genocide, Picard et. al. have interpreted the PD to specifically require genocide.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Dealings with the Cardassians, Klingons, etc. do not fall anywhere near the aegis of the Prime Directive. The PD covers interactions with more primitive (generally interpreted to mean "non-warp-capable") cultures - it patently does not cover interactions with the other modern powers of the galaxy.
.

Wrong. The Klingon Civil War was explicitely covered by the Prime Directive.

(except if, off course, you only want to restrict the PD's discussion to its earliest interpretation in TOS, which is also a very valid argument, in that case you would be right)

[Mikey]

I'm willing to admit I'm wrong, if I am. Do you have a source for that comment?

[SolkaTruesilver]

I'm willing to admit I'm wrong, if I am. Do you have a source for that comment?

"Redemption, Part II", Starfleet explicitly prohibited Picard from interferring in the Klingon Civil War, which is why Picard wanted to prevent Romulans from interferring.

Is that good ennough?

[Mikey]

That definitely indicates a non-interference policy, but did it explicitly cite the Prime Directive (or "General Order Number One") as the reason for restraining Picard? I'd thought that non-interference was merely a political expedient.

[SolkaTruesilver]

That definitely indicates a non-interference policy, but did it explicitly cite the Prime Directive (or "General Order Number One") as the reason for restraining Picard? I'd thought that non-interference was merely a political expedient.

I don't remember the line of dialogue verbatim, but Memory Alpha does state that it was the Prime Directive which applied there, so a line of dialogue must have referred to it.

[Tyyr]

I'm fairly certain that Solka is right here and Picard specifically said the Prime Directive prevented them from interfering.

[SolkaTruesilver]

I'm fairly certain that Solka is right here and Picard specifically said the Prime Directive prevented them from interfering.

Wow. Realise this one moment:

- You just said that.
- The US Government just has done the sensible and moral thing
- There will be a lunar eclipse coinciding with the winter's solstice, for the first time in nearly 450 years tonight.


THE APOCALYPSE IS COMING!!!

[Tyyr]

Even a broken clock is right twice a day. It was bound to happen eventually.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Anyway, back on the original topic. Like I said, what really struct true to me about DS9 is that they weren't using a generic written rule to be their benchmark to determine if something was moral or not. They would actually go into the moral dilemma rather than skim over it, and they wouldn't try to use "I followed the rule" as excuses.

*sigh* DS9, why did your owners casually dismissed you once you were finished?

[Mikey]

That definitely indicates a non-interference policy, but did it explicitly cite the Prime Directive (or "General Order Number One") as the reason for restraining Picard? I'd thought that non-interference was merely a political expedient.

I don't remember the line of dialogue verbatim, but Memory Alpha does state that it was the Prime Directive which applied there, so a line of dialogue must have referred to it.

I'm fairly certain that Solka is right here and Picard specifically said the Prime Directive prevented them from interfering.

Well, I stand corrected. I'm not sure exactly how that falls under the aegis of the Prime Directive, seeing as how prior to this the Klingon Empire was both co-belligerent and ally, but I guess there it is.

[Captain Seafort]

I also think that sending a terrorist to help shape up a terrorist organisation from within the Cardassian Union to challenge the Dominion was a complete violation of the Prime Directive, as it was meddling with their internal affairs.

On the contrary - the Federation was providing support to an insurgency created by and led by the head of the Cardassian government against an occupying power

Not to forget influencing a sovereign government's decision to break their neutrality agreement with your enemy.

Not a purely internal matter, as it related directly to the foreign relations of the Romulan Empire

Warning the Cardassians of the incoming Klingons...

Not a purely internal matter, as it related directly to the foreign relations of the Cardassian Union. It was stupid, but it wasn't a PD violation.