WOTW: Did UFP make the right call?

[Jono]

If you visit an online forum on a show that has finished 10 years ago you take your chances that you'll be spoiled.

[Anwar]

Tell me about it, I read complaints from people on a DC Comics message board over someone "spoiling" stuff about a story that came out 20 yeas ago.

[Captrek]

Jono wrote:

---

If you visit an online forum on a show that has finished 10 years ago you take your chances that you'll be spoiled.

I realize that. I just figured that those who had been paying attention would realize my situation and might use spoiler tags in this thread just to be nice to me. Nasat did it, and I thanked him and hoped others would pick up on that. That doesn’t mean anybody’s obligated to follow Nasat’s courteous example, and I hope I don’t sound like I’m complaining. Nobody has done anything wrong here, and no rules have been violated. But what’s wrong with going above and beyond like Nasat did?

[rahullak]

Captrek, you could also use your same logic and apply it to Sisko's POV.

Sisko when listening to Gowron making claims of Changeling infiltration to conquer Cardassia, could not just be thinking about the consequences of his actions but also all the consequences of his inactions. Think about it. Given what he had just been told by Gowron, can Sisko really by sure at that point that the Klingon empire itself had not been infiltrated at the highest levels? Perhaps Gowron himself was a changeling? Is it unreasonable for Sisko to think so, given the fact that Gowron should know how the UFP would react should he declare war on Cardassia? And what if it turns out it is true (and it did later on, not Gowron but Martok)? Would it really been in the interest of the Federation to have the Cardassian empire conquered by the Klingons who would be under the influence of a changeling? Both empires would thus be under Dominion influence. And do you not think that an already war-hungry Klingon people, their fires fueled by victory and a belligerent power-hungry Klingon leader like Gowron (who could be a changeling) would not turn around and declare themselves the most powerful force in the Alpha quadrant and still break the Khitomer accords?

Given the alternatives, Sisko did not have much choice. The changelings played their moves well and backed the UFP and the Alpha quadrant into choosing the lesser of two evils, and Sisko did do what was right given the information he had then.

[Vanyel]

Warning the Cardassians through a 3rd party, in this case Garak, was the right thing to do. Rescuing the Detapa Council, by engaging in battle with Klingon ships was also right. The UFP's directive, and Starfleets orders were broken for the greater good. Trying to keep the Klingons, and Cardassians from fighting a bloody war was the best thing for the AQ at that time.

Had the Klingons catured the entire Cardassian Empire, keeping it under their control would have cost them a large portion of their fleet and huge amounts of man (Klingon) power and resources.

The Dominion could have then come through the wormhole in force, overwhelming DS9. With the wormhole secured (I don't think the Federation had upgraded their shield technology to block Dominion weapons at this point.) they could have brought through a huge fleet of ships. The Klingons would have been too spread out to react and gather enough ships to defend the Empire. The Klingons would be out of the War.

The Cardassian Empire, already in disarray after being conquered by the Klingons, would not be able to resist the Dominion forces. 2 AQ powers down.

The wormhole, now more tightly secured, would leave the the Dominion free to keep on bringing in ships. Sacrifice of Angels told us that a fleet large enough to defeat the combined Klingon/Federation fleets was coming through, that would suggest that the Dominion had more ships than the Klingons and Federation combined. The Federation would have been conquered. 3 AQ powers down. The Federation and Klingons make up 2 of the "Big Three" AQ powers.

Would the Romulans join the War on the Federation side? Doubtful, they would most likely try to seek a way to stay neutral, even if it meant becoming a satellite republic of the Dominion. Yes that is speculation, but with the 2 of the 3 strongest powers defeated, the Romulans would have little choice.

That's how I see it anyway.