Faults of The Sisko

[Deepcrush]

We constantly talk about how badass the Sisko is... and rightfully so. What doesn't get covered is the line of faults he seems to trail.

First fault on my mind being his handling of the Klingon invasion of the Cardassian Union. He betrayed and opened fired on his own allies in support of his enemies. This is insane to me to say the least and I supported his Bio-bombing that Maquis world. I can understand the UFP condemning the attack and giving a stink face about it. But destroying your allies ships to save your enemy who will likely (and in fact did) just turn on you and try to kill you anyways is just stupid. What's worse to me is the Janeway attitude that Sisko had during the thing. Treating it like it was the Klingon's fault he decided to betray them. A total reverse as it was the Klingons, even after suffering losses, who tried to resolve the matter peacefully.

Anyone else?

[Graham Kennedy]

I'd say you pretty much nailed his worst failing on the Cardassian/Klingon thing. Provoking a war with your closest ally to protect one of your enemies, all against direct orders of the civilian government? Outright treason.

I wasn't fond of his decision to go off on a sulk and peel potatoes in the middle of a war, either.

[Deepcrush]

To be fair, the constant strain he was under will wear anyone out over time. Everyone needs to take a break to sort things out.

[Mikey]

True, but there's a proper time and place.

[Teaos]

There is never a proper time to have a break down...

[Deepcrush]

Fight through a war that involves a quarter of the known galaxy and you have a right to break down.

[McAvoy]

Actually if you read or watch any interviews with soldiers/sailors/marines back in WW1 and WW2, basically you do get a break from war. My guess is that Sisko requested it and UFP accepted it.

[Graham Kennedy]

Seems to be a thing in Starfleet that people very rarely take leave. We're often told that the main characters almost never go on leave, that they have loads of leave accumulated, etc.

[Mikey]

They have holodecks. If that sort of thing were available on a modern naval ship, for instance, it wouldn't be a total substitute for leave... but it would drastically reduce the amount of leave necessary to keep a man's head in the game.

I do think that the issue with Sisko's case is that of the timing of his leave, and his general tendency to take a destroyer escort attached to his station and run it around the quadrant like it's his project 1963 Barracuda.

[Captain Seafort]

His response to the Klingon-Cardassian war was very poor judgement, but his specific use of the Defiant's cloak was even worse. It was in direct contravention of the amended Treaty of Algeron, and as such could have wrecked the improving Fed-Romulan relations just as they were preparing to face a Dominion invasion. It risked dropping the Federation into three simultaneous wars against the Dominion and the two other great powers of the Alpha Quadrant.

On top of that, of course, there's his stunt in "For the Uniform". Yes, the Maquis in general and Eddington in particular were a serious threat that had to be dealt with. This does not in any way excuse or justify the Halabja school of counterinsurgency.

[Deepcrush]

With Eddington, if it were the UFP's job to handle everything then I can look at Sisko's actions and think "Well they didn't have a choice". But with the Cardassians being there, if I were the UFP I would have just told the CU they have 30 days and go at it.

I don't want anyone thinking I approve of the UFP turning its back on its own people. But once you've gone that route, you need to stick to it. If the Maquis want a fight with the CU, let them have it.

[Captain Seafort]

With Eddington, if it were the UFP's job to handle everything then I can look at Sisko's actions and think "Well they didn't have a choice".

No. Use of CBW against a purely civilian target is never acceptable, regardless of the provocation.

I don't want anyone thinking I approve of the UFP turning its back on its own people. But once you've gone that route, you need to stick to it. If the Maquis want a fight with the CU, let them have it.

Agreed. Especially as the UFP didn't abandon it's people - the Cardassians fought them to a stalemate and they were therefore forced to agree to an exchange of territory. They attempted to evacuate their people from the planets to be handed over. The colonists explicitly and repeatedly stated that they did not wish to be removed, and were willing to be annexed by the Cardassians in order to stay put. At that point they ceased to be Federation citizens and became Cardassian citizens (i.e. not the Feds problem any more). The Feds involvement is akin to the Mexican army tramping all over Texas to put down an anti-US insurrection.

[Deepcrush]

No. Use of CBW against a purely civilian target is never acceptable, regardless of the provocation.

It wasn't purely civilian, it was a Maquis planet which means to me it is acceptable.

Agreed. Especially as the UFP didn't abandon it's people - the Cardassians fought them to a stalemate and they were therefore forced to agree to an exchange of territory. They attempted to evacuate their people from the planets to be handed over. The colonists explicitly and repeatedly stated that they did not wish to be removed, and were willing to be annexed by the Cardassians in order to stay put. At that point they ceased to be Federation citizens and became Cardassian citizens (i.e. not the Feds problem any more). The Feds involvement is akin to the Mexican army tramping all over Texas to put down an anti-US insurrection.

The UFP first off shouldn't have left them there. If the people wanted to stay or not doesn't matter. They need to leave for their own safety and the UFP left them there. Also, you shouldn't have signed a treaty that grants territory in a stalemate. In my view, the UFP willingly abandoned its people to preserve the illusion of utopia on Earth.

[Mark]

I often wondered....HOW could the UFP get battled to a stalemate with the Klingons as allies by the Cardassians?????

[Tinadrin Chelnor]

I agree with Seafort that Maquis presence or not, does not justify using CWB in any circumstance.

On the colonists on worlds within the DMZ that transferred to Cardassian territory, I think firstly that the Federation should never have agreed to hand over worlds where its people had already established their homes, obviously there must have been some strategic value in doing so I would guess, but surely the government's prime concern is the protection of its citizens and their homes.

Once they had agreed to transfer ownership of these worlds though, they were right in not forcing their citizens to leave, and allow them to become citizens of the Cardassian Union, but should have left the Cardassians to deal with them, rather than intervene. If the Cardassians had simply left them alone, perhaps just collecting taxes/mining resources where necessary, then the Maquis probably wouldn't have arisen.