Babylon 5

sheridan is also a chowderhead and it is notoriously hard to scan fishheads. maybe they tried and just heard the roar of the ocean.

Sheridan, what is the disposition of your battle fleet?

FOOM, kur-WHOOSH.

How many ships? What is their fire power? Where are they stationed?

FOOM, foom, kur-WHOOSH.

When are they planning to attack? In what sector?

FOOM, kur-whoosh.

[See what I mean about reading a chowderhead? Not so easy.]

........maybe.

I think Psi-Corps would have the talent to do a scan which would have been undetectable save by perhaps the most talented teeps, who would have been under their control anyway.

I wouldn't believe anything the interrogator says. He used lies like a carpenter uses a hammer.

A scan of Sheridan would have been incredibly valuable not just for the confession but also for strategic information in the defense of Earth. Or maybe even do the same thing to John as was done to Garibaldi and "let Sheriden get rescued" so that he becomes a pawn of Psi Corps as well.

Besides, people could tell that he'd been scanned during his confession but not that he'd been physically and mentally tortured to get the confession out of him?

azziz-- Psi Corp probably could not scan Sheridan as long as he was connected to Kosh. But when he was captured by Earth, I don't think there would have been any reason to scan him. What would they have learned that they didn't already know? At the time of his capture, Sheridan didn't have up-to-the-date knowledge of the distribution or plans of his fleet. Bester already knew about the teeps at B5 who had shadow technology in their heads. I think the only think Clarke wanted was a confession from Sheridan. An unforced confession could have been used to demoralize the B5 forces.

LOL maybe thats what happened......

The point is other evidence was poo-pooed by ISN and the administration. Hell, they shut down ISN live! Clark managed to ride that one out, as well. The benefit of all the info they could have lifted from Sheridan's noggin far outweighed any possible downside of a rogue teep possibly scanning him, and trying to get the word out. As was said above, that's easily dismissed as the ravings of a disaffected fugitive.

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Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony! Oh, but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you! Oh but if I went 'round sayin' I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!

There were several references to an underground resistance movement on Earth. While they could not have gotten the info out via ISn or anything offical, the resistance movement would have spread word. Capturing Sheridan and getting him to confess would do little or nothing to help Clark unless they could convince the people counting on Sheridan to remove Clark that it was authentic.

The idea that a confession has to be "valid" during a time of war is nothing new. We saw it in the Persian Gulf War were video tapes of captured American's were immediatly ignored as propaganda. Who did it help? No one. The same principle will hold in 200 years. A confession is only worth something if it is believable. A telepath leaves traceable reside in someones mind. Any residue found in Sheridan's mind would invalidate a confession so they had to get it another way.

You make our point for us. Beating the crap out of Sheridan isn't going to produce a valid looking confession, either. There'd be far more to gain by getting his knowledge of the other ringleaders. Regardless of how "authentic" a confession would have looked, no one in the resistance movement would have believed it anyway, least of all Ivanova and Franklin. They'd still have come after Clark.

And, even if the resistance and opposition forces really believed Sheridan had been turned, they'd still go after Clark, and would put out a believable story that Sheridan had been tinkered with. Hell, they might even say teeps had done it, even though they knew it was false.

nope, i disagree with most of this.

it would be very practical to break sheridan and to have him appear on TV questioning whether he had taken the right course in opposing clarke with military force. to accomplish this, clarke's people had two weapons--the threat of taking out retribution against sheridan's family and the ongoing interrogations designed to break his will.

if sheridan made a public appearance, and stated that he regretted his use of force and felt that earth's people and military were being unfairly put in the middle of his political disagreements with clarke--

well, first of all, that would probably cause some of ivanova's armada pull out of the fight. granted, it wouldn't affect the mimbari or the hard core members of the resistance, but ships that had joined at proxima might decide to remain neutral. ivanova's fleet is already outnumbered, so this would further hamper and attack on earth

second, if the fleet then goes ahead with an attack, many on earth would see it as aggresion. here is sheridan, saying lets stop and think about this, and then his fleet attacks anyway. clarke would probably get a boost in public support to repel the attack.

third, seeing sheridan defeated would have a demoralizing effect. ivanova, franklin, and others might want revenge, but for others it would sap the will to fight. if England had captured George Washington and paraded him humbled before the rebelling colonists in 1777, can you imagine the effect. sure, there were still other generals and still troops under arms, but it would still have been a major psychological blow.

iz