I am in no way of course saying that invading Bajor and killing millions of Bajorans was okay in anyway , regardless of the reason that pushed the Cardassians to do it . It was wrong , hard agree on that . I’m just stating that the Occupation didn’t start out as a full-fledged military Occupation , at first they came in relative peace , but things escalated and went south fast .
Oh , and one “ small “ detail , when the Cardassians invaded Bajor , they didn’t come with the intention of committing a genocide , they didn’t wanted to wipe out the Bajorans . So that’s also something people can strike out of their list next time they compare Cardies not Nazis …
Klingons exterminated the Tribble specie , it is , as far as we know it , extinct . Shite and time-travel happened and they came back , but yes , the Klingons basically wiped out an entire species .
But that’s just the bottom of things , really . Klingons are inherently violent and aggressive , they live to wage war . They have invaded more planets than we can count , destroyed entire colonies , and each and every time , they had every intention to do so from Day 1 . They basically commit small scale genocides wherever they go . It is stated in DS9 that their policy when they invade a planet is to kill all the Leaders and official representatives straight away to plunge the planet into chaos , and then they just go rampaging until they’ve sacked , burned and killed everyone . Just remember “ Return to Grace ” , they did not just massacre both Bajoran and Cardassian dignitaries , they killed every living soul on the Outpost . And as you mentioned , there’s the case of that Cardassian base Damar was adamant he wanted evacuated before it was attacked by the Klingons , because they would not care that the people stationed here were old men and wounded soldiers . Weyoun let them all die so he did not have to bother with the evacuation , and Martok enjoyed giving the orders to attack , just like he enjoyed leading the Klingon Defense Fleet in Cardassian Space to wreak havoc and death on his way , for “ honour ” .
When we’re first introduced to the Gamma Quadrant and the Founders , when Quark deals with the Dosi , trying to sell tulaberry wine . The Dosi guy makes it clear that the Dominion keeps the whole Gamma Quadrant in check with the threat of the Jem’Hadar , and you can assume that they’ve probably committed a few genocides here and there to prove their point . And let’s not forget “ The Quickening ” or “ How the Dominion infected an entire species with Space Plague for generations just to teach them a lesson ” .
And when the Founder ordered Weyoun to exterminate the Cardassian people , they did not “ nearly “ committed genocide , they did . Cardassian was bombed back to stone age . Over 800 million Cardassian civilians were killed . That is 53 times more people killed in a matter of HOURS than in 50 YEARS of Occupation !! ( 15 million died during the Occupation )
And yes , there’s the matter of Garak .
He’s my favourite character , and i really love him , but he is anything BUT an angel , and people are forgetting that so easily and so fast , it’s no wonder he gets a free pass . I’ve seen people say several times that “ At least Garak knew where to draw the line , Dukat never did ” . AH !!
You could not be more wrong that this !
Garak was an Obsidian Order agent , the Obsidian Order is worse than the Tal Shiar , and the Tal Shiar is really bad . By definition , intelligence services do not draw lines , and the Obsidian Order least of all . You may be lead the believe that Garak was exiled because he let a few Bajoran kids go because he was cold ( episode “ The Wire ” ) but remember that everything Garak says in that episode is a potential lie . Because that’s what Garak does : he lies . Always , all the time . He may not be as morally depraved as Dukat , but chances are that our favourite Tailor has tortured and killed a lot more people with his own hands than Dukat ever did . Men , woman , children , elderly people , we will never know . And as Garak said to Julian in “ Our Man Bashir ” , spies have no ego . A good Spy doesn’t have a conscience either . Just think about it .
I adore DS9 above all Trek , but that’s really the part where i find the Writers and Producers took the cheap and easy way , they just stick that “ evil “ label on Cardassians as early as TNG , and they spend the better part of DS9 pushing the viewers to side with the Bajorans and hell , even the Maquis . And that’s also why i prefer DS9 over VOY , only DS9 did , every now and then , show us some Cardassians who weren’t bad people . Just your average person doing his his / her job , like Gilora Rejal and the other scientists , or some regretting deeply what happened during the Occupation like Maritza , or fighting the Military to transition to a more democratic government like Ghemor . VOY on the other was all about giving the Maquis side of every story and no one to argue with them , ever , despite the Maquis being basically a terrorist organization willing to jeopardize the Peace Treaty between the Federation and Cardassia just because they didn’t want to move their arses .
The relation between Kira and Tekeny Ghemor was just fantastic on so many levels , and showed that there could be Peace between Bajor and Cardassia , as long as they were both willing to be a little more understanding of each others .
Damar WAS absolutely pivotal , and he’s such an overlooked , underrated character . I think Damar is the character that better represents the “ perfect / average ” Cardassian . He’s not excessively violent and mean , he’s stern and deeply loyal , both to his people and friends . Like most Cardassians he was probably fine with the Occupation while they had the situation in hand ( can’t blame them ) , but probably didn’t think much about it afterwards . And yes , the drinking … Damar likes to indulge in the small pleasures of life , but it doesn’t take a high IQ to understand that , past mid-season 6 at least , he was trying to drown his self-loathing feelings in Kanar . Cardassians are a proud people , and the Dominion was treating them like second-class citizens , throwing them on the front line instead of the Jem’Hadar . Both Weyoun and the Founder were just bossing him around , treating him and the rest of Cardassia like pawns despite him being the Leader of the Cardassian Union , a position he inherited after killing the daughter of his best friend (?) . He got fed up with the Dominion , and so were many Cardassians , he became the Leader of goddamned Resistance against a regime 10 times more violent and powerful than the Cardassians ever were on their own , and he’s ultimately the reason why the Dominion was defeated . Without Damar , the Dominion would have crushed the Federation , Klingons and Romulans during the Battle of Cardassia .
I’m definitely talking about Klingons in general , except a very few individuals like Worf , they , all of them as a species , just genuinely enjoy oppressing entire species or planets , killing and destroying everything in their wake , because “ Honour ” dictates that they should , and the more people they kill , the more glory they earn .
Boy this is getting long , i’m terrible at summing things up
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