Only in a Star Trek game, players feel on the wrong side, because their allies have the abilities to resurrect dead people, while themselve shooting and killing hundreds of thousands of people on all kind of starships they encounter.
And also, the prime directive is kind of pointless, if you are at WAR with the subject at hand.
the Benzite capt is correct in telling Harry Prime Directive, "stow it". From and outsiders position we [the Federation] has no right to tell a culture what they are doing is right or wrong. Yes at times that's taking the moral high ground and its a copout but its still necessary.
I still say that is a hypocritical "holier than thou" argument.
The Kobali did state that they would release the living Vaadwuar back to their comrades once hostilities have stopped. Which from a military since is the right choice. Why release potential enemies in an ongoing war. Since it seems the Kobali view rebirth as sacred its highly unlikely that they would cause a "malfunction" in the stasis pods to make more corpse. If they were they yes they would lose all moral grounds in this debate.
Except, again standing by and doing nothing makes them guilty of culpable homicide or manslaughter as they took advantage of "innocent" civilians. The argument about being at war is but a red herring. Are you to say that the Germans who knew what was going on with the Jews in the camps were not guilty of turning a blind eye to the suffering? Or how about those who stood by and watched as the Hootus butchered the Tutsis in Rwanda? What about the bloodshed in the fields of Cambodia? I quote Edmund Burke: "All that is required for evil to thrive is for good people to do NOTHING." While the Vaadwaur are not good, the Kobali can hardly be called good either. Better to wipe one's hands of the whole situation.
The Vaadwuar are "children" in an adult world. Yes they have every right to be angry at what the Kobali have done to their died but that doesn't that give you the right to commit genocide. Since the Vaadwuar are aggressive and single-minded if they just "asked" for the pods back without resorting to violence I am sure they would get their people back and talked to the Kobali about their customs then war could have possible been averted.
It was nice to see that the Kobali are talking with the Alliance about using their dead that wish to be reborn a chance at a second life. This not have been easy or as beneficial as a temple full of Vaadwuar but its more right then violating another cultures customs.
What the Kobali should really be doing, however embarrassing a topic it may be for them is to ask other races a way to reverse their reproduction problem I am sure that the minds of the Federation, Alliance and Cooperative can come up with a solution.
It was "embarrassing" because they acted without permission. They concealed their actions because they knew their actions were wrong and yet they still persisted rather than stopping when they realize what they were doing was wrong. Why did it take the Alliance calling them on the carpet for them to change? While they have taken steps in the right direction, I would still warily watch them WITH BOTH EYES OPEN.
Also, that last little parting shot tells me that they (or at least Kim's old academy flame) did NOT repent but rather intends to continue her bad behavior once no one is looking.
You know what I find curious? The fact that the Roms side with the Kobali with very little thought. Think about it:
One of the things that defined Hakeev as a evil person were his dealings with the Elachi. Are there not similarities between the Elachi and the Kobali?
There have already been comparisons between the Kobali and the Borg, but there are a few notable differences: namely, that assimilation is reversible (the Cooperative), but transformation is not. In fact, at one point Rom players burn the pods full of half- transformed Elachi rather than freeing them(with the exception of those who have not started the process yet). This implies that the process is irreversible, or else you would have presumably rescued the victims, many of who were probably with you on Virhnat.
I think that a big difference is that the Kobali aren't converting living people, whereas the Elachi are forcibly converting living people. Also, even if you have reservations with the Kobali's methods, the game makes it clear that Gaul's folks are hateful jerks who need to die, repeatedly. After Gaul's deposed, reevaluating the alliance might make sense, but while he's in power? Set phasers to "charbroil."
Comments
And also, the prime directive is kind of pointless, if you are at WAR with the subject at hand.
I still say that is a hypocritical "holier than thou" argument.
Except, again standing by and doing nothing makes them guilty of culpable homicide or manslaughter as they took advantage of "innocent" civilians. The argument about being at war is but a red herring. Are you to say that the Germans who knew what was going on with the Jews in the camps were not guilty of turning a blind eye to the suffering? Or how about those who stood by and watched as the Hootus butchered the Tutsis in Rwanda? What about the bloodshed in the fields of Cambodia? I quote Edmund Burke: "All that is required for evil to thrive is for good people to do NOTHING." While the Vaadwaur are not good, the Kobali can hardly be called good either. Better to wipe one's hands of the whole situation.
It was "embarrassing" because they acted without permission. They concealed their actions because they knew their actions were wrong and yet they still persisted rather than stopping when they realize what they were doing was wrong. Why did it take the Alliance calling them on the carpet for them to change? While they have taken steps in the right direction, I would still warily watch them WITH BOTH EYES OPEN.
Also, that last little parting shot tells me that they (or at least Kim's old academy flame) did NOT repent but rather intends to continue her bad behavior once no one is looking.
I think that a big difference is that the Kobali aren't converting living people, whereas the Elachi are forcibly converting living people. Also, even if you have reservations with the Kobali's methods, the game makes it clear that Gaul's folks are hateful jerks who need to die, repeatedly. After Gaul's deposed, reevaluating the alliance might make sense, but while he's in power? Set phasers to "charbroil."