They should have known the were playing with fire when the took good wholesome cornflakes and added that sweet sensual frosting . You don ' t see people getting aroused by the cock on the corn flakes box . <| sep |> Its so odd . I don ' t need to convert USD to GBP for once ! <| sep |> The Federation don ' t have a strong political position in the region at the start of DS 9 . They have just come out of a war with Cardassia , and there are many Bajorans including Kira who were upset with the Bajoran provisional government allowing the Federation to oversee aid and administration in the area . Obviously the endgame for the Federation is for Bajor to join up , but not every Bajoran is keen on the idea . They also have a peace treaty with Cardassia that relies on the two factions staying out of each other ' s way . Cardassia is seen as being kind of tricky and underhanded throughout the early seasons of the show . They throw their weight around , and conduct covert manipulations of Bajoran separatists to undermine the Federation . It ' s true that Starfleet could probably intervene and act as a fireshield against Cardassia , but it would be a diplomatic breach that could lead to problems elsewhere in the Alpha Quadrant . We see later how sensitive the Klingons are to the situation in the area , and if Starfleet were seen as untrustworthy treaty violators , it would make that situation worse . So , most of this is about playing mind games within the boundaries of the politics , and Cardassia doesn ' t really become an active military threat until they join the Dominion later on . rant