Bajor had a non agression pact with the Dominion. Do you think they broke that treaty when the Federation retook DS9 and allowed the station to be designated headquarters for the 9th fleet??
Bajor's treaty with the Dominion
- Thread starter Tuvoks_partner
- Start date
Bajor could argue they had no say in the matter and couldn't stop the Federation and Klingons from doing it. They didn't stop the Federation from mining the wormhole or destroying Dominion ships with the station but did ask them to leave (which the Federation ignored) and that didn't nullify the pact, so they used the old, "But we asked them not to" excuse before.
They probably broke that treaty a dozen ways during "Call to Arms" already, despite Kira's pretense that Bajor had opposed the acts against the Dominion. The treaty would certainly have been formulated with just this sort of a turn of events in mind, after all, with the Dominion making sure it held all the trump cards and the Bajorans had none.
The Dominion just turned a blind eye back then, because that was in their interests; when the station was retaken, it would no longer be in Dominion interest to give the Bajorans leeway with the treaty, and would probably be in Dominion interest to withdraw from the treaty altogether, rendering the issue rather academic.
It's doubtful the Alpha side could gain a propaganda advantage from proving that the Dominion honored the treaty even worse than the Bajorans did (even if that were true, which I sort of doubt). The treaty really wasn't worth the photons it was written in.
Timo Saloniemi
The Dominion just turned a blind eye back then, because that was in their interests; when the station was retaken, it would no longer be in Dominion interest to give the Bajorans leeway with the treaty, and would probably be in Dominion interest to withdraw from the treaty altogether, rendering the issue rather academic.
It's doubtful the Alpha side could gain a propaganda advantage from proving that the Dominion honored the treaty even worse than the Bajorans did (even if that were true, which I sort of doubt). The treaty really wasn't worth the photons it was written in.
Timo Saloniemi
I just assumed they chucked the treaty once the Federation returned. It would be kind of hard to retain the aura of neutrality when you're openly giving aid, comfort, assistance and shelter to one side.
It makes no sense that the Dominion would sign a treaty with a very minor power like Bajor unless they expected them to follow it. The Doms wanted to use Bajor as an example of why smaller powers should join the Dominion - see, we treat you fairly even though we could run over you like a bulldozer.
By the same token, the blatant disregard the Bajorans showed for the treaty would have required the Doms to make an example of them in the other direction - if the Doms ever had had the chance, they would have made the Cardassians look like pussycats by comparison. What the Doms did to Cardassia, in fact, is a good guide to what they would have done to Bajor. Backstabbers deserve only one fate.
By the same token, the blatant disregard the Bajorans showed for the treaty would have required the Doms to make an example of them in the other direction - if the Doms ever had had the chance, they would have made the Cardassians look like pussycats by comparison. What the Doms did to Cardassia, in fact, is a good guide to what they would have done to Bajor. Backstabbers deserve only one fate.
Robert DeSoto
Lieutenant Commander
"Technically, they're not siding with anyone. It's a non aggression pack."
Bajor didn't sign an alliance with the Dominion. They are officially neutral. The Bajorans allowed the Dominion to use DS9 just as they allowed the Federation.
The real treaty violation was when the Bajoran Militia opened fire and killed several Dominion soldiers in "The Sacrifice of Angels". Of course, if anyone found out, the Bajoran government can try and convince the Dominion that the security detail acted on their own without their consent.
Bajor didn't sign an alliance with the Dominion. They are officially neutral. The Bajorans allowed the Dominion to use DS9 just as they allowed the Federation.
The real treaty violation was when the Bajoran Militia opened fire and killed several Dominion soldiers in "The Sacrifice of Angels". Of course, if anyone found out, the Bajoran government can try and convince the Dominion that the security detail acted on their own without their consent.
Whether or not the Dominion would believe that, they would still punish Bajor as a whole. They would have pounded the crap out of the Bajorans if they ever learned about that.
The Dominion wouldn't care about the technicalities. They clearly regarded Bajor as a poster child for "why Alpha Quadrant worlds should play nice with the Dominion." That's why Weyoun shot down Dukat's idea to return to the good old days, and was protective of the Bajorans.
There's no reason that the Dominion needed to be nice, sign a treaty, or keep the Cardies at bay if there wasn't an agenda behind it. But if Bajor didn't live up to its role as a good little poster child, there would be hell to pay.
At the same time, the wormhole was so vitally important to them that they could never let a treaty of any sort come between them and the wormhole mouth.
Perhaps they just miscalculated: they knew they had to have complete control of the Bajoran system, but they also thought Bajor would give it to them in all circumstances, thus allowing the Bajorans to be used as a propaganda piece as well. When Bajor didn't go for the seeming winner Dominion at the H Hour after all, the Dominion was left in a quandary: if they punished Bajor for Kira's "Call to Arms" lip-service-practical-betrayal, they'd be revealing to the whole universe that the puny culture had rebelled, and making themselves laughing stocks even if the punishment to Bajor was severe.
And it couldn't be too severe, because they still needed the puny culture's help in fortifying the precarious position and in defeating the minefield. And a half-hearted punishment would be worse than useless in the propaganda sense.
Hell, even singling out Kira for treason and executing her would be a problem because the Dominion had already chosen to use the Bajoran situation as a political showpiece. Since they allowed Federation news reporters to remain on the station, any action taken against Kira would be noted and reported and would be used against the Dominion.
After Bajor was retaken by the Federation (what, the fourth occupation within the decade?), the treaty would of course be off. But by originally attempting the propaganda gamble, the Dominion had tied its own hands for a long time.
Timo Saloniemi
Without disagreeing with anything else you said, I remember a scene where Weyoun was telling Jake he was keeping Jake's messages from getting out. I'm sure Jake got his ways to leak stuff, but maybe not before then. But you're right, their execution of Kira wouldn't have been suppressed.
Robert DeSoto
Lieutenant Commander
True but since the Militia didnt leave any survivors from that Dominion security detail, I don't think they'll find out.
Plus it would also be a waste of resources to send the Dominion fleet to take the Bajoran system. They'd have to destroy DS9 and the Ninth Fleet. Plus send ground troops to fight the Bajoran Militia who are experts at guerrilla warfare.
Theres no strategic value to that system as long as the Prophets won't allow passage through the wormhole.
After the Federation and Klingon Empire are defeated, then they can deal with Bajor.
I suppose, but if Bajoran phasers sound different, wouldn't they be detectable during forensics? But would the Dominion take time/resources to do forensics? Hm...
Robert DeSoto
Lieutenant Commander
Yeah they probably would be able to tell if they did forensics or autopsy. But the station was evacuated right after. Nobody in Ops mentioned anything about sending a search party to look for their missing security detail. I guess they were too busy trying to escape before the Federation arrived. The bodies were probably still in the cargo bay when Starfleet got there.
The Dominion offered that treaty to Bajor for 2 reasons...
1. was to ensure they had access to the worm hole and thus reinforcements/supplies etc
2. it would have forced the federation to withdraw from the system which again ensured them sole use of the worm hole.
So basically its just one reason...worm hole
It was a piece of paper, and the Bajorans knew it. Only because the Emissary insisted on it did Bajor sign it. In the interim, it fulfilled Sisko's wish to keep Bajor out of the fighting, and Bajor/DS9 was never a target after the Federation retook the station. Why anyhow would an empire, whose Founders hate solids and want to control/exterminate them, sign treaties of non-aggression and friendship with solids? It's just an empty, in a sense, PR gimmick, to see to the Alpha Quadrant that the Dominion can be reasoned with.
Isn't signing a treaty a sign of control? "Touch us and die" sort-of thing? "Haha-- we just suckered you into writing your own death certificates if you so much as breathe on us!"
Similar threads
