BossBattleBob
Well-known member
US Military Strikes Off Venezuela Coast May Not Be Saving as Many Lives as Claimed, Experts Say
The Trump administration has been touting recent military strikes on five Venezuelan boats as having saved "at least 100,000 American lives" due to the alleged thwarting of drug smuggling. However, according to experts, this figure is mathematically dubious and lacks concrete evidence.
President Donald Trump stated during a media conference that each boat struck by US military forces results in the saving of approximately 25,000 lives, claiming that every person on those boats would have died if they were allowed to continue their journey. But, the fact-checking website PolitiFact has found that the administration failed to provide any concrete evidence regarding the type or quantity of drugs allegedly being transported on these vessels.
While fentanyl is often cited as a major contributor to US overdose deaths, most illicit fentanyl in the country comes from Mexico via official ports of entry and primarily gets smuggled in by US citizens. Furthermore, even if the boats were carrying 25,000 lethal doses, it's unclear whether destroying them would have prevented 125,000 deaths, nearly double the number of overdose deaths that occurred between May and April.
Experts point out that there is no reliable data on how many lives are saved due to drug interception efforts. Additionally, the relationship between seized drugs and actual lives saved is complex, taking into account variables such as a person's weight, tolerance, and exposure history.
In light of these findings, PolitiFact has concluded that Trump's claim is false.
The Trump administration has been touting recent military strikes on five Venezuelan boats as having saved "at least 100,000 American lives" due to the alleged thwarting of drug smuggling. However, according to experts, this figure is mathematically dubious and lacks concrete evidence.
President Donald Trump stated during a media conference that each boat struck by US military forces results in the saving of approximately 25,000 lives, claiming that every person on those boats would have died if they were allowed to continue their journey. But, the fact-checking website PolitiFact has found that the administration failed to provide any concrete evidence regarding the type or quantity of drugs allegedly being transported on these vessels.
While fentanyl is often cited as a major contributor to US overdose deaths, most illicit fentanyl in the country comes from Mexico via official ports of entry and primarily gets smuggled in by US citizens. Furthermore, even if the boats were carrying 25,000 lethal doses, it's unclear whether destroying them would have prevented 125,000 deaths, nearly double the number of overdose deaths that occurred between May and April.
Experts point out that there is no reliable data on how many lives are saved due to drug interception efforts. Additionally, the relationship between seized drugs and actual lives saved is complex, taking into account variables such as a person's weight, tolerance, and exposure history.
In light of these findings, PolitiFact has concluded that Trump's claim is false.
like how can you just estimate the number of lives saved from some random boat strikes? doesn't seem super legit tbh 
and what's up with all these assumptions about fentanyl and overdose deaths? it's complicated enough without throwing in extra variables. plus, where's the actual proof that destroying those boats was even effective? i'm not saying we shouldn't care about stopping smugglers, but let's keep it real 
... I mean, come on, 100k+ American lives saved by US military strikes? That sounds like a pretty big number to me... But then again, I'm no expert 
. If we're gonna take Trump's word for it, that means every single one of those intercepted boats was carrying a massive dose of fentanyl that just happened to be headed straight for the States 
Not providing evidence doesn't exactly scream credibility to me... And those math problems you do the numbers, and I'm pretty sure it's not as simple as just destroying one boat saving 25k lives 
At least that would be a start...
& btw didnt they have proof or somethin? polifact found out trumps claim was false 
cant we just stick to the facts for once?
It's always something with that guy. I mean, can't we just have some genuine, evidence-based info from our leaders for once?
It's all a bit sketchy to me. Can we really say that destroying those boats is even making a dent in the opioid crisis? 
.