# The CIA admits to using vaccination programs for spying **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-admits-to-using-vaccination-programs-for-spying/688845 "2014-05-20T17:21:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-admits-to-using-vaccination-programs-for-spying/688845/41 "2014-05-22T13:25:26Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@Koxinga](#): > > > > You really are infected with this delusion that 'MURICA! has to be the world’s savior, aren’t you? > > Who would you prefer to do the job? There’s another logical problem here. Why does **anybody** have to be the world’s savior? Maybe we could let other countries manage their own problems. We could participate in the international community, but as an equal rather than a leader except insofar as our expertise and competence make us one. In other words, use the capital that we have earned, not the power we have bought with our economic might or taken by military force. America can be mightily proud of its role in nearly eradicating polio, but it’s just a shame that greed and lack of ethics has kept us from finishing the job. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-admits-to-using-vaccination-programs-for-spying/688845/42 "2014-05-22T13:32:05Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Don’t blame the CIA for the actions of extremists and conspiracy theorists. It’s not our fault they’d rather have their children die than let Americans help them. Bangs head against wall. What part of the CIA should never have been involved in the first place do you not get? Public health efforts should be carried out by public health officials and should have the only goal of public health. That’s it. Not spying. Not CIA objectives. Preventing disease and that is it. The CIA took a difficult situation and made it harder. That was just fucking stupid and all involved should be fired over it. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-admits-to-using-vaccination-programs-for-spying/688845/43 "2014-06-03T14:18:46Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The CIA didn’t put doctors at risk. The people who exposed the CIA put them at risk. Ya know, most people develop sufficient maturity to recognize that the problem is “I did wrong” rather than “I got caught” by age eight or thereabouts. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-admits-to-using-vaccination-programs-for-spying/688845/44 "2014-06-03T14:25:09Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Ya know, most people develop sufficient maturity to recognize that the problem is “I did wrong” rather than “I got caught” by age eight or thereabouts. And the ones who don’t apparantly go to work for the CIA. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-admits-to-using-vaccination-programs-for-spying/688845/45 "2014-06-03T21:46:21Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Ya know, most people develop sufficient maturity to recognize that the problem is “I did wrong” rather than “I got caught” by age eight or thereabouts. Right. So when are the leakers going to realize they did wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-admits-to-using-vaccination-programs-for-spying/688845/46 "2014-06-03T22:04:00Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Right. So when are the leakers going to realize they did wrong? No, that really doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-admits-to-using-vaccination-programs-for-spying/688845/47 "2014-06-03T23:35:38Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Right. So when are the leakers going to realize they did wrong? Well, there are two wrongs: leaking information, and knowing about a program like this and keeping silent. Caught between two wrongs, a moral person is obligated to choose the lesser of the two. A reasonable person might argue about this, but there’s no question that there’s a wrong on either side. Personally, I’d leak the information, but my loyalty to humanity outweighs my loyalty to the USA. The CIA’s choice, on the other hand, was “infiltrate a vaccination program or don’t infiltrate a vaccination program.” Here, the choice between the right action and the wrong action is a little starker. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cia-admits-to-using-vaccination-programs-for-spying/688845.md?page=2)