SlothSurge
Well-known member
Venezuela's Coast, US Lives, and a Web of Deceit: Can One Boat Really Save 25,000 American Lives?
President Donald Trump recently made headlines with his bold claim that the US military strikes on five Venezuelan boats have saved "at least 100,000 lives" by thwarting drug smuggling. In essence, he's saying that every boat intercepted and sunk off the coast of Venezuela is responsible for the death of 25,000 Americans, and therefore, these strikes are a form of kindness.
However, the numbers don't quite add up. The Trump administration has provided no concrete evidence to support its claim that the boats were carrying enough drugs to save 100,000 lives. In fact, experts say it's impossible to estimate how many people might have been saved or lost due to the seizures, given the lack of specifics about the type and quantity of drugs on board.
Furthermore, there's a problem with assuming that destroying these boats would have prevented 125,000 overdose deaths in the US – nearly double the number of lives lost to drug overdoses in an entire year. The claim relies on a simplistic math equation, ignoring variables like individual tolerance and the complexities of supply chains.
It's also worth noting that Venezuela plays a relatively minor role in trafficking drugs into the United States, with most illicit fentanyl entering the country through the southern border at official ports of entry. The majority of smuggling is done by US citizens, not Venezuelan fishermen.
So what does this say about Trump's claims? In short, there's no way to know for sure how many lives were saved due to these strikes, and the math doesn't support his assertion that one boat can save 25,000 American lives. PolitiFact rates his statement as False.
President Donald Trump recently made headlines with his bold claim that the US military strikes on five Venezuelan boats have saved "at least 100,000 lives" by thwarting drug smuggling. In essence, he's saying that every boat intercepted and sunk off the coast of Venezuela is responsible for the death of 25,000 Americans, and therefore, these strikes are a form of kindness.
However, the numbers don't quite add up. The Trump administration has provided no concrete evidence to support its claim that the boats were carrying enough drugs to save 100,000 lives. In fact, experts say it's impossible to estimate how many people might have been saved or lost due to the seizures, given the lack of specifics about the type and quantity of drugs on board.
Furthermore, there's a problem with assuming that destroying these boats would have prevented 125,000 overdose deaths in the US – nearly double the number of lives lost to drug overdoses in an entire year. The claim relies on a simplistic math equation, ignoring variables like individual tolerance and the complexities of supply chains.
It's also worth noting that Venezuela plays a relatively minor role in trafficking drugs into the United States, with most illicit fentanyl entering the country through the southern border at official ports of entry. The majority of smuggling is done by US citizens, not Venezuelan fishermen.
So what does this say about Trump's claims? In short, there's no way to know for sure how many lives were saved due to these strikes, and the math doesn't support his assertion that one boat can save 25,000 American lives. PolitiFact rates his statement as False.
, anyone with basic maths skills knows you cant just multiply a bunch of seizures by some arbitrary number to get an estimate of lives saved 
. and what about all the other factors that influence overdose deaths? individual tolerance, supply chains... it's way more complex than trump makes it out to be 
. Now, let's draw an arrow from the center of the overlap to the right side of the diagram, labeled "Drug Smuggling". It's like this:
. not to mention venezuela plays like what, 10% of the game w/ smuggling fentanyl into the US? 
most smugglin' comes from within the country itself 
. gotta fact-check trump's claims before spreading that info around 
. btw, politifact is always right 
. i'm not saying it doesn't matter, but can we please focus on something else for once? my math homework is stressing me out 
like, what's the point of even making up stats? it sounds super fishy to me... but at the same time i guess it's good that he's trying to make a point about the opioid crisis and all 
still, though, shouldn't we be focusing on the root causes of addiction and not just throwing around numbers like they're nobody's business? 
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. And honestly, who even knows how many people were on board or how much drugs they had? It's just too complicated 
. And btw, isn't it weird that most of the smuggling is done by US citizens anyway? 
and even more so when you think about the complexities of drug trafficking in the us 
and btw, who's counting those 125k overdose deaths anyway? 
. I mean, come on, a simple math equation that says destroying a few boats is going to save over a quarter of a million people in the US? It just doesn't add up. And what about all those overdose deaths in the US that are linked to fentanyl coming through official ports? You'd think Trump would be more focused on addressing that problem, but nope 
. I'm not saying it couldn't be true, but without some actual evidence to back it up, I think we should all take Trump's claim with a grain of salt 
. That's just good journalism right there, in my opinion 
. Newsflash, Mr. President: destroying people's livelihoods isn't kindness 
. Plus, let's be real, most of the smuggling is done by US citizens, not Venezuelans 
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. Something's fishy here, and I aim to find out what 
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