Why Did They Have the Two Wars on DS9?

[cwalrus2]

Klingons work better as villains. I think it was good for a while for Trek to explore the Klingons as allies for the audience to learn more about them, but I for one was cheering when Way of the Warrior first aired because it felt like that was the way it's meant to be. Klingons live to conquer other races not become allies and mingle with them. It would have been riskier to keep the Klingons as enemies even as the Dominion War broke out, but it could have been done. By then, they went back to romanticizing the Klingons, but I really enjoyed episodes where the Klingons were feared as brutal enemies. "...Nor the Battle to the Strong" was really good in that respect.

 

[JoeZhang]

Klingons work better as villains.

Too cartoonish - they had no menace.

 

[JM1776]

Sisko [said]: "The Klingons are throwing everything they have at us."

What part of that is so hard to understand?

It seems to me that what's implied but unsaid in that statement is "everything available at us." Did the Klingons not have a significant force engaged in holding Cardassian territory at that time? Do they not in all likelihood retain another large portion of their fleet on the Romulan border for security reasons? Are there not recalcitrant client states and other enemies upon which they must keep watch?

In addition, it's highly unlikely Starfleet, which has immense commitments of its own, was committed to crushing the Klingon Empire. Thus, they were limited to reactive measures—basically keeping their dukes up while the Klingons had their tantrum and flailed away.

 

[D Man]

I've sometimes wondered how the Klingons were able to fight both the Federation and the Cardassians at the same time, since TUC seemed to imply that the loss of Praxis was devastating, and they almost NEEDED the Federation as allies for many, many decades to come.

 

[JM1776]

I've always assumed that a much larger percentage of the Klingon economy is constantly on a war footing, which enables it to hold its own against a polity much larger in overall volume and population, such as the Federation.

I also think they never really did fight both simultaneously, in the sense you mean. Cardassia had been savaged before the brushfire war between the Federation and Klingons began and was thus unable to project much power, while the UFP maintained a purely defensive posture throughout the short conflict. It was pretty clear that Kurn and Worf, who possess extensive knowledge of both Starfleet and the KDF (along with an objectivity most Klingons lack), were pretty certain the Empire would get a serious whuppin' if they roused the Federation sufficiently to really garner its full attention.

 

[Solariabsg25]

I've always assumed that a much larger percentage of the Klingon economy is constantly on a war footing, which enables it to hold its own against a polity much larger in overall volume and population, such as the Federation.

I also think they never really did fight both simultaneously, in the sense you mean. Cardassia had been savaged before the brushfire war between the Federation and Klingons began and was thus unable to project much power, while the UFP maintained a purely defensive posture throughout the short conflict. It was pretty clear that Kurn and Worf, who possess extensive knowledge of both Starfleet and the KDF (along with an objectivity most Klingons lack), were pretty certain the Empire would get a serious whuppin' if they roused the Federation sufficiently to really garner its full attention.

I feel that the real Martok (not the Changeling), would also have counselled against conflict with the Federation, even if it cost him influence and position - he never struck me as the kind of guy who'd shut up just to avoid pissing Gowron off!!

 

[JM1776]

I think that's a solid take on the character.