Baerbel wrote:
The Bajorans and the Maquis had two things in common, they were victims of the Cardassians and they feel betrayed by Starfleet – the Maquis because of this agreement Starfleet made with Cardassia and the Bajorans because Starfleet did absolutely nothing to help except voicing their outrage now and again. From “Ensign Ro” I deduct that even giving humanitarian aid to Bajoran refugees rarely happened. I am sure that many Bajorans worked with the Maquis. These were in essence Ro`s people.
A couple of points. First, the agreement was between the Federation and the Cardassians; Starfleet was merely enforcing the DMZ on the Federation side. (Remember, the Federation is the government, Starfleet is her military.)
Second, what could Starfleet (or the Federation) have done for the Bajora during the Occupation? (Yes, I just used the older term “Bajora” instead of “Bajoran” because I like it.) Anything the Federation did could be considered Prime Directive contamination, or the Cardassians might disallow any Federation intervention. In modern terms, that would be like attempting to give Tibet aid and assistance in contravention of China’s barbaric policies toward Tibet. China’s not going to allow us to do anything in Tibet that would interrupt their control, so neither would the Cardassians allow the Federation to do anything with the Bajora that might weaken their hand.
Picard might not care for this situation, but what can he do? His hands are tied, if not through Prime Directive concerns than very certainly by Federation mandate and foreign policy. Disrupting internal Cardassian affairs wouldn’t have a positive outlook; if anything, it would bring the Federation and the Cardassian Union closer to the brink of a second war.
Picard knows and understands the policy and its reason. Ro’s second-guessing of the policy and her ultimate break with Starfleet, though possibly well-intentioned, isn’t justified. She had her duties to Starfleet, duties she ignored.