Was Eddington the wrong leader for the Maquis?

[Nobody700]

My opinion of Eddington.

He is the world’s largest hypocrite and he never realizes it. Before him, the Maquis were freedom fighters, but he turned them into a terrorist group. He has them attack people on mass, steal from the Federation, and murder and torture people. When he became the leader, he turned them into that. Eddington has shown to be a rather smart and clever guy, but every single one of his plans was one that had nothing to do outside of violence. He had lead the Maquis right to failure, because he turned them into a pack of thugs. I cannot see Chakotay or Cal listening to this guy and it’s clear why, Chakotay was gone and Cal probably died early on. Because of that, the Maquis had no real leader and wanted to be seen as a real threat, so they had Eddington as their boss.

Eddington constantly talked about how Sisko made it personal, and while it’s not wrong, he is OBSESSED with Sisko. It’s obvious that all he cares about is Sisko. Sisko is his arch enemy, and thus everything Sisko does is wrong. Sisko supports the peace? The peace is bad. Sisko supports the federation? The federation is evil. Sisko does the same actions Eddington does? Those actions are cruel.

One thing about Eddington is that no matter how he is, he’s a murderer. He murdered a man who gave the federation useless info when he didn’t Need too. Sisko May have done some awful things but he was remorseful, while Eddington had no sympathy about how he threw the man there. Funny how a traitor can’t stand traitors.

Another thing was the Klingon last. Eddington saw how the Klingons were DESTROYING the Cardassians, and what did he do? He didn’t start creating the ‘nation’ that he wanted. He attacked the Cardassians. Over and over. Eddington didn’t want to build a nation. He wanted to make the Cardassians pay and to hurt the Federation. Because a hero ‘fights the villain and saves the people’, and building a nation isn’t the kind of thing you write books about for heroes. But the biggest reason I feel Eddington is a hypocrite.

He is Dukat. He blames all his flaws on others, kills people and states he is a hero while talking of the actions of others are evil, ruins worlds and yet sees he’s improved it, and betrayed his people while insisting they were in the wrong when it was all him. Eddington is not pure evil, no one is, but he is three things. He’s a bad leader. He’s a bad person. He’s a villain. He attacks whole worlds of people with biological weapons, kills people and yet makes speeches of how he’s a hero, and drops ships of innocent people on planets to be killed as a distraction. He attacks those who are already dying rather then build up His people, mocks others by mentioning their dead friends, and gloats of how great he is. Eddington is not a hero. He is the villain, and the saddest part is he has no idea he is... and neither did the Maquis.

Is he to blame for them being killed? No. The Cardassians were always going to go to the Dominion the second the changeling convinced Gowron that the Cardassians were a threat. But he made the Maquis a threat to the Cardassians that needed to be stopped, and he lost all sympathy for them by the Federation when instead of building a home he turned them into a terrorist threat that attacked the Federation and Cardassians constantly with no reason beyond a grudge. He failed to create them beyond a group sent to harm others. He failed the goals of the Maquis, to create their own home. Eddington was not a mistake to the Maquis. He was their greatest enemy.

[Yukaphile]

I agree. Of course, the Maquis identified as terrorists long before he became their leader, and Kira herself is a self-avowed ex-terrorist, who sympathized with them at the start (ironic given they became so extreme, even she couldn't support them). This is, of course, during the era when IRA was getting so much massive support from other Western countries like the US. The face of "terrorism" changes in the 2000s after 9/11.

[Nealithi]

While I like Nobody700's reply. (Still want a thumbs up button)
There is one thing mentioned a few times I want clarified. Did the cardassians turn to the Dominion? I was under the impression Dukat had gone to the Dominion because the Detapa council was looking for diplomatic resolutions with the klingons and possibly the Maquis. And he basically used his new allies to conquer his own people first.

[Steve]

There's some nebulousness about it. From what we see, Dukat took control with Dominion help without firing a shot, but it's possible it was basically a coup against the Detapa Council by certain elements of the military with Dukat's initial Dominion fleet providing crucial initial reinforcement. Perhaps a popular one, with Dukat and other military leaders riling up popular fury at the Council's "surrender" of Cardassian territory to Maquis terrorists and Klingon barbarians. The Cardassians are quite the prideful people at times.

OTOH, he could've been telling the truth, and elements of the Detepa Council, convinced they couldn't get the peace they wanted without surrendering too much, asked Dukat to bring in the Dominion.

[Nobody700]

Personally I always saw it as the Cardassians did run to the Dominion and had they never been attacked by the Klingons and Maquis, they would never have had a reason to join the Dominion. Plus yeah, I think a lot of it was Dukat, and Dukat might have convinced the Dominion but I doubt the Dominion came to Cardassia unannounced. That would have caused a war against the Dominion that they would NOT have wanted. Most likely Dukat was able to convince the more war like minded after the council found out that peace with the Klingons would never happen, even AFTER the whole ‘Hey, you guys had changeling help! Oh, BTW, our supreme General was a changeling and he had a huge say in how the war should happen.’ To me, I personally think the events of that followed by Eddington’s Maquis forces caused the Cardassians to jump into the Dominion. Course, Dukat probably met with the Dominion and happened to mention that the Cardassians made him their supreme leader while talking with them.

[Nobody700]

I agree. Of course, the Maquis identified as terrorists long before he became their leader, and Kira herself is a self-avowed ex-terrorist, who sympathized with them at the start (ironic given they became so extreme, even she couldn't support them). This is, of course, during the era when IRA was getting so much massive support from other Western countries like the US. The face of "terrorism" changes in the 2000s after 9/11.

I think Kira stopped supporting them the moment she realized they were fighting for the sake of fighting. Kira did some pretty awful things during the war (The Darkness and the Light is the most fucked up of what she did) but Kira isn’t a sadistic or sociopath. The second the Cardassians were kicked off, she wasn’t screaming for Dukat’s head and chasing after the fleet with a rinky dink shuttle, she wanted to REBUILD Bajor. Kira was a lot of things during the fight for independence, but unlike Eddington, she honestly did want to build a nation after the fighting. She did. Thus, it’s why Kira lost sympathy for the Maquis. They were winning against the Cardassians and had no reason to keep on fighting, they could have had their side because I highly doubt the Cardassians were still enforcing the zone if the fighting got so bad that when Dukat declared he had a bird of prey, they told him ‘Cool, now get the hell out of there we have no chance of winning.’ The Maquis were fighting for the sake of fighting.

[Yukaphile]

That is how it struck me too. They just wanted to fight for the sake of fighting. It puts me in mind of what Picard had said back in "The Wounded," that being angry that long, it became comfortable like old leather, or a special shield that lets you get through the day. And it's clear the border conflicts that served as the basis for the Dominion War went back long before even the start of TNG.

[Independent George]

I would point out that this evolution is pretty much par for the course for most revolutionary movements around the world.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

I don't think Eddington had anything personal with Sisko, he just channeled all his frustration with the Federation on him. He always saw Sisko as someone he was outsmarting.

[Yukaphile]

@Independent George And that's why I really hate revolutions.