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A hypothetical question.`If an international oil cabal orchestrated a coup against the Venezuelan government, installing a dictator who agrees to allow privatization the oil reserves, but commits genocide against any citizens who resist, would the US government step in to stop the genocide, or would they allow it to occur in exchange for the oil?

I can't imagine America would do much to stop it.

Is there any incentive we could possibly have to interfere?

I can't imagine, no. You could probably come up with some reason, but no, America would probably let it happen. If the conflict became prolonged they may supply anti-Chavez forces with weapons/equipment through secret channels.

Let's say a lone CIA operative decides to interfere and stop the genocide, and the US finds out about it. Will that operative be punished, either through unemployment, or judicial means?

idk man, this whole "lone wolf CIA agent" is more of a Hollywood thing anyways, you could really do whatever you want with it.

I mean, the CIA probably doesn't have a specific policy, though, at the end of the day, unless the agent broke major international laws, the CIA would probably not want it to come out that they punished someone for stopping genocide.

I'd say just write it (ya, ironic coming from me, heh) and see what works.

So there's no way the US would interfere in this? What if the cabal were Russian and Chinese, or some other nation competitive with the US?

look at syria

70000 dead and America wont send them anything more than night vision or body armor

But the US wouldn't benefit from Assad winning. The US actually would stand to benefit from this hypothetical Venezuelan genocide. It's not just that the US wouldn't help the victims, they would be actively opposing them. Is there any reason the US would want to help the genocide victims?

you are the one writing it man...

I don't think "genocide" applies when you're talking about a government silencing its opposition, unless that opposition is an ethnic group.

Oh, and I've said this before, but you can't have other people write your plots for you, Lestov. You need to be able to figure out what works and what doesn't on your own.

Democide then. I don't need someone to write my plot. I need to ensure that my plot is plausible.

mass murder or democide would be the names.

the USA wouldn't do a ****ing thing to stop the repression and if any such coup did take place, its most likely articulators would be the US government itself, alongside oil companies and local venezuelan elites standing to profit from it.

Originally posted by Lestov16
Let's say a lone CIA operative decides to interfere and stop the genocide, and the US finds out about it. Will that operative be punished, either through unemployment, or judicial means?

[email protected]

Originally posted by 753
mass murder or democide would be the names.

the USA wouldn't do a ****ing thing to stop the repression and if any such coup did take place, its most likely articulators would be the US government itself, alongside oil companies and local venezuelan elites standing to profit from it.

Indeed. That's why I ask, if a US agent(s) stopped the genocide, would the US punish them for it?




NVM, I figured out what I'm going to do. Thanks for all your responses (except Robtard)

Unrelated to the thread topic, but if I were to include Johns-Hopkins Hospital and Cowboys Stadium as terrorist targets in my story, would I be subject to a copyright law or something similar?

who would you be ripping off?

I'd have to imagine that comes under fair-use, as long as you aren't plastering the logos everywhere or things like that.

Originally posted by Lestov16
Unrelated to the thread topic, but if I were to include Johns-Hopkins Hospital and Cowboys Stadium as terrorist targets in my story, would I be subject to a copyright law or something similar?

Realistically, those aren't very exciting targets. Well, a football stadium is, but being that specific as to which one is unnecessary and likely to cause you issues of another kind. Make up some teams or something. Having terrorists attack UPS world headquarters, Yankee Stadium, etc would be equally weak. My $0.02 anyway. I read a lot of espionage/intelligence/military novels and very few successful ones point to such specific targets, with the exception of things like government buildings/museums/monuments.

Hoover Dam and the White House seem to be pretty safe fodder.

Originally posted by Lestov16
Unrelated to the thread topic, but if I were to include Johns-Hopkins Hospital and Cowboys Stadium as terrorist targets in my story, would I be subject to a copyright law or something similar?
No. Where you might come into trouble would be if you were filming a movie and used those locations without permission. No one really cares about things appearing in books.

How do you get permission?

Originally posted by Lestov16
How do you get permission?
Call them up/e-mail them and ask. But honestly I don't know if I've ever heard of a writer getting in trouble for using a university or stadium as a setting/location/plot point.

Copyright infringement in books only ever comes up when one writer thinks another writer has stolen something from him. And because fiction is so derivative (it varies according to genre, but as a writer I steal things all the time) a writer has to pick their battles, so they usually only sue when it's blatant (look at the Russian Harry Potter ripoff for an example of how far you usually have to go to attract a lawsuit).