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Non-Aggression Treaty with the Dominion

Photon

Commodore
Commodore
Could Bajor have kept the Dominion at bay by simply telling them this is OUR station-the Feds are leaving but you are not welcome. If you try and take it, you're forfeiting the treaty?
 
Under the condition that the Feds left and that the wormhole would no longer be mined, then yeah, I'm sure Weyoun would agree to that. Great point that you bring up there.

Of course, in reality that would never happen for real-world out-of-show reasons, Ie: Berman thought they "needed" the Feds to be on the station so as not to "confuse" viewers. :rolleyes: Same reason why they had to restrict the occupation arc to only 6 episodes. Even though it easily had enough juice to go way, way longer. :scream:
 
In practical terms, the Cardassians and the Dominion could no doubt soon have hauled a more efficient space station to guard the wormhole, leaving Terok Nor in its shadow, so they might just as well have allowed Bajor to keep the older installation. Cardassians would no doubt have wanted it back for reasons of prestige, though. And the transition wouldn't have happened overnight, so there was some story logic to them keeping Terok Nor around for at least a few months. But it is still illogical that they didn't fortify the Bajoran system more efficiently, say, like they protected Chin'toka. Terok Nor wasn't that powerful a defensive system, not even after the Starfleet upgrades (or what remained of them after the scuttling).

In political terms, I doubt Bajor would have had much of a say if the Dominion really wanted the station. But the Dominion could have afforded to bend over backwards at first, to keep the Bajorans happy and thus to weaken the Alpha cause. Perhaps the Dominion also justly feared the Bajoran/Prophet connection?

Timo Saloniemi
 
It was made clear in previous episodes that all Cardassian property would be returned to the Cardassians, the Dominion probably just said that DS9 wasnt Bajoran and thus they had no say in whether the Dominion could control it or not. :confused:
 
Same reason why they had to restrict the occupation arc to only 6 episodes. Even though it easily had enough juice to go way, way longer. :scream:

I believe this was a studio mandate, and they weren't to happy when they realized Behr, Moore, and friends had violated their orders not to serialize these episodes.
 
It was made clear in previous episodes that all Cardassian property would be returned to the Cardassians, the Dominion probably just said that DS9 wasnt Bajoran and thus they had no say in whether the Dominion could control it or not. :confused:

It would have depended on whether it served Dominion interests to call Bajor or DS9 Cardassian or Bajoran territory. It was pretty clear that Cardassia's treaty with the Dominion didn't mean squat when it didn't serve Dominion interests.
 
Could Bajor have kept the Dominion at bay by simply telling them this is OUR station-the Feds are leaving but you are not welcome. If you try and take it, you're forfeiting the treaty?

Or...else? What would Bajor do if the Dominion violated the Non-Aggression Treaty? Throw jumja sticks at the Jem'Hadar and Vorta?
 
Same reason why they had to restrict the occupation arc to only 6 episodes. Even though it easily had enough juice to go way, way longer. :scream:

I believe this was a studio mandate, and they weren't to happy when they realized Behr, Moore, and friends had violated their orders not to serialize these episodes.

From what I can recall (and some of this is coming from Moore's Q & As during the summer between seasons 5 & 6), Behr and Co wanted to go either a half season or the whole season before Sisko and th Feds regained DS9. The studio wantedit done in two or three episodes. The "compromise" ended up being six episodes.
 
Could Bajor have kept the Dominion at bay by simply telling them this is OUR station-the Feds are leaving but you are not welcome. If you try and take it, you're forfeiting the treaty?
They signed the NAT (as recommended by Sisko) because they were in a weak position - the Feds couldn't guarantee they could protect them, with the wolves at the door.

In that circumstance, Shakaar (and Kira, who would be the one in the firing line) would have had to be clinically INSANE to push the Dominion that way.
 
Same reason why they had to restrict the occupation arc to only 6 episodes. Even though it easily had enough juice to go way, way longer. :scream:

I believe this was a studio mandate, and they weren't to happy when they realized Behr, Moore, and friends had violated their orders not to serialize these episodes.

From what I can recall (and some of this is coming from Moore's Q & As during the summer between seasons 5 & 6), Behr and Co wanted to go either a half season or the whole season before Sisko and th Feds regained DS9. The studio wantedit done in two or three episodes. The "compromise" ended up being six episodes.
It kinda would have been interesting if they done their early idea of making the six-part arc ENTIRETY of Dominion war. One can only wonder how would look rest of the series then...
 
The way I saw it was as follows.

1 - The Dominion and Bajor (at Sisko's quiet urging) sign a non-aggression pact. This pact demands the immediate removal of all non-Bajoran forces from Deep Space 9.

2 - The pact also allows the Dominion to operate Deep Space 9 under the same terms as the Federation did before. In the meantime, Starfleet begins plans to place an illegal minefield in Bajoran territory.

3 - Sisko publicly refuses to acknowledge the Bajoran government's agreement (despite urging them to sign it privately) and so he and his officers remain behind. Kira, in her capacity as a member of the Bajoran Militia, "officially" protests this action.

4 - Dominion forces attack Deep Space 9 and eventually drive Starfleet off the station.

5 - Officially, the Bajoran government welcomes the new station administrators aboard DS9.

6 - Later, the Starfleet and the Klingons return to DS9 with a fleet large enough to force the Dominion to leave. The Bajoran government abandons the non-aggression treaty and declares war on the Dominion, fully and actively supporting the war effort.

So, officially, the Bajorans "welcomed" the Dominion's help in removing Starfleet and their illegal occupation of Bajoran territory. So, even though they attacked Deep Space 9 they were not committing an act of aggression against Bajor but were merely rendering assistance.

If the Bajorans had said "go away" they would have been in breach of the non-aggression pact. However, the Dominion were absolutely desperate to show that they would not break any of the agreements they had signed as they ran the risk of showing the Romulans and the Tholians that they could not be trusted.

Having had their reinforcements cut off, the Dominion was in no position to risk having to face the entire Alpha Quadrant. They would have been facing wars with the Federation, the Klingons, the Romulans and the Tholians all at once - and potentially the Ferengi, the Breen and others as well.
 
^ But didn't the Bajorans have to leave because the station was under SF control? Kira said she was "protesting" SF's refusal to turn it over- so they may have thought that they could hold it due to the NA pact- but again- the mine field would have to calm down. OTOH- Dukat swore that all Cardie stuff would be regained, including the station as he warned- so they'd have to either break the treaty or go with Sisko's the Station was built by Bajoran slave labour... I'm not sure the station as a base/unit mattered to them... just the mines/WH.
 
The Dominion wasn't interested in Bajor. It meant nothing in galactic terms. If the Federation was the United States, then Bajor was Morocco. The Pact gave the Dominion access to an important tactical point - DS9 and the area around the wormhole. The Bajorans could go play with themselves all they wanted. The Dominion had what it wanted - and it didn't even need to lift a figure to get it. So certainly the Pact could have worked. The Dominion had bigger fish to fry. MUCH bigger fish. :vulcan:
 
The Dominion wasn't interested in Bajor. It meant nothing in galactic terms. If the Federation was the United States, then Bajor was Morocco. The Pact gave the Dominion access to an important tactical point - DS9 and the area around the wormhole. The Bajorans could go play with themselves all they wanted. The Dominion had what it wanted - and it didn't even need to lift a figure to get it. So certainly the Pact could have worked. The Dominion had bigger fish to fry. MUCH bigger fish. :vulcan:

Which bit them in the ass when Bajor told the Federation about the minefield and the Bajoran Gods cut off travel from the Gamma Quadrant.
 
Could Bajor have kept the Dominion at bay by simply telling them this is OUR station-the Feds are leaving but you are not welcome. If you try and take it, you're forfeiting the treaty?

They COULD have done that, save for one problem...

If the UFP left, DS9 would become Terok Nor again... leaving the door wide open for a Cardassian presence on Bajor again... and we all know what that would create...
 
Could Bajor have kept the Dominion at bay by simply telling them this is OUR station-the Feds are leaving but you are not welcome. If you try and take it, you're forfeiting the treaty?

Or...else? What would Bajor do if the Dominion violated the Non-Aggression Treaty? Throw jumja sticks at the Jem'Hadar and Vorta?

:lol:

Hilarious but true... it reminds me of Kira's threats to the Romulans from... Shadows and Symbols... though that was a different circumstance.
 
Zombie thread alert. :D

The Cardassians can waffle on about wanting everything that was theirs back again, but the fact is they gave up everything that was theirs to the Dominion. Cardassian pride did not override the fact that the Dominion needed to prove to the powers it had non-aggression pacts with that they were honest.

The alternative is that suddenly they're fighting the Federation, the Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, Tholians, the Miradorn, the Breen, the Gorn and anyone else with an nation to protect.
 
As Sisko told Kira, "The Federation cannot protect Bajor" the treaty was in the best interest of Bajor. For them to start telling the Dominion and it's
Cardissian allies what they can and cannot do would have been an open invation for the total takeover of DS-9 and quite possiblity the invasion of Bajor, whick Dukat would have loved to have had a second chance at. For the time being it was in the best interest of Bajor to abide by the treaty and not to push the Dominion into a situation that they would have had to use force against them, the end result would have been another occupation and more Bajorian dead. That was the last thing Benjamine
wanted...
 
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