Why was Garak allowed to stay on DS9 (Terok Nor)

Garak's manner of expressing himself was more to make life bearable for him living in exile. In his actual function as an intel agent/interrogator I imagine he was not nearly as talkative.

 

^ Yeah, he got Dr. Parmak to break without actually doing anything - literally all Garak did was stare at the guy for hours, and it worked!

 

Not all Bajorans were as mean as Kira.

 

Garak explains that himself in the early sixth season - he prefers the company of the Defiant's crew because he believes Starfleet Intelligence had a bug planted in his brain.

And again, he's a civilian and a free citizen outside of the Union, and thus, not an asset to be ordered around.

 

Yeah, Garak isn't very trusting of Starfleet, but he trusts Bashir and he trusts Sisko. He probably wasn't willing to be assigned to Starfleet officers other than them.

 

Why would he have had a say in that, though?

Aboard DS9, he could do as he pleased: Bajorans in general, and the Bajoran government and military specifically, didn't give a rat's ass about the installation. Even Kira being sent there was really a sort of banishment, if some of the exchanges in the Circle trilogy are to be considered. Starfleet managed the place, and Starfleet was Sisko, because Starfleet in turn could not budge the Emissary of the Prophets from his holy seat.

But when the war came, Starfleet ceased to be Sisko alone. Even before any official declaration of war or emergency, Odo was ordered at gunpoint into a series of experiments devised to determine how a Changeling at gunpoint would feel... Why would Garak enjoy any greater protection?

Timo Saloniemi

 

Yeah, I just assumed it was because of Starfleet's presence, plus having someone directly connected to the Cardassians would be a good asset to have around. Plus, yes, yes, he was a very good tailor.

 

After the first five people assigned to ask Garak to leave mysteriously disappeared TPTB decided it was more cost-effective to just let Garak remain on the station.

 

Even during the war though Starfleet respected individual freedoms. Garak always had the ability to just walk away. If they attempted to coerce him he would have been savvy enough to avoid the coercion. Garak was only ever going to work for Starfleet on his own terms.

And besides, Cardassians were not enemies of the Federation at that point, and by the time they became enemies, Garak had proven that he was against the Dominion in all ways.

 

Many Bajorans wanted to forgive their oppressors, and Garak the tailor may have seemed harmless enough, to let him stay.
But, perhaps Starfleet considered him a handy spy--although probably a double agent--whom they might be able to use, at some point in the future.
His exchange with Quark at the end of the Dominion War is priceless!