Could the Dominion have won ?

[Sarevok]

Was there any way the Dominion could have won the war ?

[brianeyci]

If it wasn't for the stupid prophets, the Federation would be swarming with thousands of Jem'Hadar ships.

We can also list all the close calls the Dominion had. If it wasn't for Quark, the Federation wouldn't have assassinated the Romulan ambassdor and pinned it on the Dominion, causing them to join the war. Etc, etc.

Of course they could have won. Especially if they took the offensive when only the Klingon ships could stop the Breen weapons -- I always wondered why they hung back and let the Feds catch their breath.

Brian

[General Zod]

they would have won if it hadn't been for the deus ex omnipotent deity of the day save performed by sisko to keep the dominion out of the alpha quadrant.

[JME2]

The Dominion's strength was always in numbers. That was why there were able to initally overwhelm the Feds and Klingons during the first five months of the conflict. From that point on, there were several factors working against them.

1). Obviously, first and foremost, the Prophets ex machina . With the wormhole blocked, obviously, they could not bring over the massive reinforcements needed for total victory. They could have done it, if Dukat hadn't taken his time in taking down the minefield (which brings up an interesting point. Though the episodes never state it, the novelization of that portion of the Dominion arc states that Dukat was taking his time because he was trying to buy time for the Cardassian war machine to rearm and rebuild itself, knowing that the Union's usefulness with the Dominion wouldn't last forever and that Cardassia would beed a strong leader to help lead it to such a victory. More delusions of grandeur on his part as far I'm concerned).

2). Additionally, the Cardassian Union's economy and resources were insufficent for the Dominion's military building. True, the Jem'Hadar are easy to breed and ships designed to be built as quickly as possible, but it still takes times and resources. In addition, their treatment of the Cardassians as second-class citizens was also arrogance on their part. The CU was not part of the Gamma Quadrant, had not spent their lives hearing of the all-power of the Dominion and that it was futile to tryot stand against them, etc. They were a proud people who didn't like being told what to do and the failure on the part of Weyoun and the Female Founder to recognize that, more than anything, cost the Dominion the AQ by the end.

3). Romulus joining the fray. You'd think experiement that the Vorta Boreth put the Defiant crew through in The Search -- Part II would have taught them that Starfleet was prepared to do whatever it took to defent the AQ. But I suppouse they assumed the Starfleet ethics would not lead them into temptation -- their mistake.

So yes, if not for the most-incredible lucky streak in the history of the AQ, the Feds would just be another conquered planet flying the Dominion flag.

[Deathstalker]

I wonder how the Dominion would handle the Borg? Assuming the Dominion was victorious and started running the AQ, they would have access to StarFleets info on the Borg. The Dominions tech isn't much better than the AQ's, but they have numbers. I wonder if the Borg would recognize the threat the Dominion represents, in that the Dominion essentially controls half the Galaxy, maybe even three quarters if the Dominion aggressively moves into the Beta Quadrant.

[General Zod]

I wonder how the Dominion would handle the Borg? Assuming the Dominion was victorious and started running the AQ, they would have access to StarFleets info on the Borg. The Dominions tech isn't much better than the AQ's, but they have numbers. .

not that much better? you obviously missed the parts where they were handing the federation their asses with a handful of ships. The fleet of ships that got sent through to the delta quadrant to attack the founders homeworld got completely smashed. Before the feds began actually upgrading their technology the dominion was heads and shoulders above the majority of the AQ in terms of raw firepower. I'd imagine that alone would give them a major advantage against the Borg.

[Guardsman Bass]

I wonder how the Dominion would handle the Borg? Assuming the Dominion was victorious and started running the AQ, they would have access to StarFleets info on the Borg. The Dominions tech isn't much better than the AQ's, but they have numbers. .

not that much better? you obviously missed the parts where they were handing the federation their asses with a handful of ships. The fleet of ships that got sent through to the delta quadrant to attack the founders homeworld got completely smashed. Before the feds began actually upgrading their technology the dominion was heads and shoulders above the majority of the AQ in terms of raw firepower. I'd imagine that alone would give them a major advantage against the Borg.

Being in the Gamma Quadrant, they probably HAVE encountered the Borg.

[JME2]

I wonder how the Dominion would handle the Borg? Assuming the Dominion was victorious and started running the AQ, they would have access to StarFleets info on the Borg. The Dominions tech isn't much better than the AQ's, but they have numbers. .

not that much better? you obviously missed the parts where they were handing the federation their asses with a handful of ships. The fleet of ships that got sent through to the delta quadrant to attack the founders homeworld got completely smashed. Before the feds began actually upgrading their technology the dominion was heads and shoulders above the majority of the AQ in terms of raw firepower. I'd imagine that alone would give them a major advantage against the Borg.

Being in the Gamma Quadrant, they probably HAVE encountered the Borg.

Novel-wise, yes; Mission Gamma: Book 4 -- Lesser Evil. Assimilated Fed ships vs. Jemmie fighter. Both gave the other quite a beating and ended up crashing on a barren planet.

[Robert Walper]

I wonder how the Dominion would handle the Borg? Assuming the Dominion was victorious and started running the AQ, they would have access to StarFleets info on the Borg. The Dominions tech isn't much better than the AQ's, but they have numbers. I wonder if the Borg would recognize the threat the Dominion represents, in that the Dominion essentially controls half the Galaxy, maybe even three quarters if the Dominion aggressively moves into the Beta Quadrant.

If one submits a single Borg cube can plow through potentially hundreds of war era Starfleet ships (ref "Star Trek: First Contact"), and the Borg Collective possess thousands of them, the math seems to favor the Borg pretty heavily. This doesn't even take into account the undoubtably large number of other craft, like spheres, and even those can engage a fleet of thirty Federation starships (ref STVOY "Endgame"). The Dominion would be a bigger threat than the Federation, but I highly doubt they possess any true threat to the Borg.

[Darth Wong]

I wonder how the Dominion would handle the Borg? Assuming the Dominion was victorious and started running the AQ, they would have access to StarFleets info on the Borg. The Dominions tech isn't much better than the AQ's, but they have numbers. I wonder if the Borg would recognize the threat the Dominion represents, in that the Dominion essentially controls half the Galaxy, maybe even three quarters if the Dominion aggressively moves into the Beta Quadrant.

If one submits a single Borg cube can plow through potentially hundreds of war era Starfleet ships (ref "Star Trek: First Contact")

Actual ref: masturbatory Borg-wank bullshit. No real evidence for this fleet of hundreds of ships has ever materialized.

and the Borg Collective possess thousands of them, the math seems to favor the Borg pretty heavily. This doesn't even take into account the undoubtably large number of other craft, like spheres, and even those can engage a fleet of thirty Federation starships (ref STVOY "Endgame").

Actual ref: more masturbatory Borg-wank bullshit. We did not actually see it engage this fleet.

The Dominion would be a bigger threat than the Federation, but I highly doubt they possess any true threat to the Borg.

Agreed, but it's because the Borg has too many ships and planets, not because of this "single cube can plow through hundreds of ships" bullshit.

As for the Dominion ass-raping the Federation, they could have won easily. All they had to do was ATTACK RIGHT AWAY. Instead, they gave the Federation something like one or two years to prepare for the increasingly obvious and inevitable. What kind of idiot gives a totally unprepared and outmatched enemy so much advance warning of his intentions? It would be like Admiral Yamamoto steaming his fleet around within plain view of Pearl Harbour for a year before launching his attack.

[JME2]

As for the Dominion ass-raping the Federation, they could have won easily. All they had to do was ATTACK RIGHT AWAY. Instead, they gave the Federation something like one or two years to prepare for the increasingly obvious and inevitable. What kind of idiot gives a totally unprepared and outmatched enemy so much advance warning of his intentions? It would be like Admiral Yamamoto steaming his fleet around within plain view of Pearl Harbour for a year before launching his attack.

As I see it, even the Dominion needed information on the Federation and while I'm sure the Fed ships that went missing while exploring the GQ (let's replace missing with captured) provided some info, they needed hands on experience and data, as the experiment in The Search -- Part 2 showed.

Plus, in addition, the quadrant, while chaotic, was still too orderly; there were too many varibles that worked against their favor. So, what did the Founders do?

Well, let's recap. They engineered the crippling of the Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar, the absence of the former causing the Cardassian Revolution. Then, infiltrated the Klingon Empire, got Gowron to invade the now weakened Cardassia -- (and the dissolving of the Khitomer Accords was equally good, though a bonus), let the Empire and Maquis ass-rape the Union for a year and a half, and then offer them membership, bringing them renewed order, a rebuilt economy, and the chance to assist in bringing the quadrant to its knees -- at which point they slaughter the Cardassians for trying to annhilate them in the first place.

What screwed it all up was Gowron, once the Empire got its honorable backside ejected out of the Union, re-allying with the Feds. Though, they were able to off-set this with the non-agressions pact with the Romulans and, to a lesser extent, the Miradorns and the Tholian Assembly. There new goal there was to isolate the Fed-Klingon alliance geo-politically. That of course got screwed up when Sisko mined the wormhole and forced their hand.

On a final note, it's interesting to note that in the original brainstorming stages of the Dominion, the GQ power had known about the Feds for a century and were planning to invade within the next 70 years. The discovery of the wormhole blew that plan out of the water and was another reason for their isolationism, a feeling of "Go back through the womrhole, wait 70 years, and then we can kick your ass." Obviously, it never came to pass, but it's still interesting.

[Darth Wong]

As I see it, even the Dominion needed information on the Federation and while I'm sure the Fed ships that went missing while exploring the GQ (let's replace missing with captured) provided some info, they needed hands on experience and data, as the experiment in The Search -- Part 2 showed.

They already had Founders quietly collecting information; why tip them off with military hostilities, outright threats, and a trickle of troop movements in the AQ that dragged on for two fucking years before they did anything?

Plus, in addition, the quadrant, while chaotic, was still too orderly; there were too many varibles that worked against their favor. So, what did the Founders do?

Well, let's recap. They engineered the crippling of the Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar, the absence of the former causing the Cardassian Revolution. Then, infiltrated the Klingon Empire, got Gowron to invade the now weakened Cardassia -- (and the dissolving of the Khitomer Accords was equally good, though a bonus), let the Empire and Maquis ass-rape the Union for a year and a half, and then offer them membership, bringing them renewed order, a rebuilt economy, and the chance to assist in bringing the quadrant to its knees -- at which point they slaughter the Cardassians for trying to annhilate them in the first place.

You figure they couldn't have accomplished any of this without tipping their hands right at the beginning? Especially with Founders infiltrating all of the major powers' governments? It's still fucking stupid to let the enemy know exactly what you're planning to hit him with, and with such long lead time.

[JME2]

As I see it, even the Dominion needed information on the Federation and while I'm sure the Fed ships that went missing while exploring the GQ (let's replace missing with captured) provided some info, they needed hands on experience and data, as the experiment in The Search -- Part 2 showed.

They already had Founders quietly collecting information; why tip them off with military hostilities, outright threats, and a trickle of troop movements in the AQ that dragged on for two fucking years before they did anything?.

Ratings.

Okay, seriously, I see it as they wanted to prevent the Feds from venturing too far into the GQ, to prevent them from gaining major military info and data on the Dominion. Also, the destruction of the Odyssey was meant to show, aside from weapons capabilities (ie 3 Jemmie fighters taking down a Galaxy-class starship), a warning to stay out of the GQ. It's also likely that the Founders were still debating on whether or not to conquer the AQ and so wanted (Hence the Female Founder's line, "Perhaps one day I’ll come and visit you. The Alpha Quadrant seems racked with chaos, it could use some order.”) If that view is to be taken, then it would appear that the simulation results convinced them of the necessity of spreading their order to the AQ.

Plus, in addition, the quadrant, while chaotic, was still too orderly; there were too many varibles that worked against their favor. So, what did the Founders do? Well, let's recap. They engineered the crippling of the Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar, the absence of the former causing the Cardassian Revolution. Then, infiltrated the Klingon Empire, got Gowron to invade the now weakened Cardassia -- (and the dissolving of the Khitomer Accords was equally good, though a bonus), let the Empire and Maquis ass-rape the Union for a year and a half, and then offer them membership, bringing them renewed order, a rebuilt economy, and the chance to assist in bringing the quadrant to its knees -- at which point they slaughter the Cardassians for trying to annhilate them in the first place.

You figure they couldn't have accomplished any of this without tipping their hands right at the beginning? Especially with Founders infiltrating all of the major powers' governments? It's still fucking stupid to let the enemy know exactly what you're planning to hit him with, and with such long lead time.

It was intimidation, to let them know, as the Founder at the end of season 3 said to Odo, "We are everywhere", that none of you are safe. A frightened foe is easier to subude and to quote Odo from Homefront, “That's why my people came here, to undermine the trust and mutual understanding the Federation is built on."

[Lord MJ]

As for the Dominion ass-raping the Federation, they could have won easily. All they had to do was ATTACK RIGHT AWAY. Instead, they gave the Federation something like one or two years to prepare for the increasingly obvious and inevitable. What kind of idiot gives a totally unprepared and outmatched enemy so much advance warning of his intentions? It would be like Admiral Yamamoto steaming his fleet around within plain view of Pearl Harbour for a year before launching his attack.

If the Dominion attacked right away they would've been crushed, unless the AQ establishments were totally incompetant.

In DS9 the Dominion first gained advantage by destroying the Obsidian Order and crippling the Tal Shiar. They then started a war between the Klingon's and the Cardassians, they then began placing founders inside the AQ powers. Finally they were able to get a foothold in the AQ by absorbing Cardassia. Then and only then was it feasible for the Dominion to wage war against the Federation.

If they decided to attack right away, the Federation could, to borrow football terminology, stack the box with defenders. The Dominion could only attack the Federation from a single point, the wormhole.

If neccessary they could stack the box with hundreds, perhaps thousands of ships, add it the Klingons and the Cardassians, and any Dominion ships emerging from the wormhole would be dust.

Geography was a clear disadvantage for the Dominion, and it's amazing that the Federation never took advantage of it.

[General Zod]

If the Dominion attacked right away they would've been crushed, unless the AQ establishments were totally incompetant.

how exactly would they have been crushed? the dominion had vastly superior weaponry, and numerically superior forces. The federation wouldn't have any preparations in place for such a large scale invasion. The combined klingon/romulan/cardassian fleet that was sent to the DQ to smash the founder homeworld got its ass handed to it. There's no reason to believe the federation would have withstood an all out assault as soon as possible without time to prepare.

If they decided to attack right away, the Federation could, to borrow football terminology, stack the box with defenders. The Dominion could only attack the Federation from a single point, the wormhole.

all the dominion had to do was send in enough ships to take deep space 9. After that holding it would have been a matter of having enough ships present, and we've seen how dominion weapons work against federation ships.

If neccessary they could stack the box with hundreds, perhaps thousands of ships, add it the Klingons and the Cardassians, and any Dominion ships emerging from the wormhole would be dust.

didn't the federation have trouble getting simply a few dozen ships to deep space nine to defend it at one point? after the war had been going on for awhile?

[Lord MJ]

how exactly would they have been crushed? the dominion had vastly superior weaponry, and numerically superior forces. The federation wouldn't have any preparations in place for such a large scale invasion. The combined klingon/romulan/cardassian fleet that was sent to the DQ to smash the founder homeworld got its ass handed to it. There's no reason to believe the federation would have withstood an all out assault as soon as possible without time to prepare.

Which is negated by the incredible tactical disadvantage of sending your ENTIRE invasion force through a single narrow point. Blazing through the Wormhole and attacking outright was not the way to go. The Dominion isn't magical, it would've taken time to assemble an invasion force large enough to go through the wormhole and defeat the Federation, and I seriously doubt they could do it faster than the Federation could stuff the entrance to the wormhole with ships.

all the dominion had to do was send in enough ships to take deep space 9. After that holding it would have been a matter of having enough ships present, and we've seen how dominion weapons work against federation ships.

This is even worse because now you are having just enough ships to take DS9 against the entire military of the Federation.

didn't the federation have trouble getting simply a few dozen ships to deep space nine to defend it at one point? after the war had been going on for awhile?

More due to policy than technology, and that was before the war. In order to get enough ships around the wormhole in order to thwart a full scale Dominion invasion through the wormhole. The Federation would have to deploy a large percentage of starfleet in the Bajoran system. Probably would take a few months, and a fundamental shift in the Federation's deployment policies.

After first contact with the Dominion, the President could've said, "Starfleet, you will deploy 1000 combat ready Starships in the Bajoran sector in x months. Klingons we want you to deploy 1000 warships in the Bajoran sector. it would present huge logistical problems, political problems, and would require great sacrifices on the part of starfleets other deployments and non-military operations. But it could be done if there was the political will to do so.

That would've made a Dominion assault infeasible, and the Dominion would probably end up collapsing the wormhole on thier end as a result.

[Darth Wong]

Which is negated by the incredible tactical disadvantage of sending your ENTIRE invasion force through a single narrow point. Blazing through the Wormhole and attacking outright was not the way to go.

Since the wormhole is big enough to permit the passage of thousands of ships in a single group, that's not much of a disadvantage. They gave the Feds TWO YEARS to build up their fleet, for fuck's sake! Remember how pitifully small the Fed fleet was in TNG? Why give them two years to upgrade their fleet, study your weapons technology, and press the last century's worth of decommissions ships back into service?

[General Zod]

Which is negated by the incredible tactical disadvantage of sending your ENTIRE invasion force through a single narrow point. Blazing through the Wormhole and attacking outright was not the way to go. The Dominion isn't magical, it would've taken time to assemble an invasion force large enough to go through the wormhole and defeat the Federation, and I seriously doubt they could do it faster than the Federation could stuff the entrance to the wormhole with ships.

they could have sent thousands of ships through the wormhole with little trouble. From the sound of things in one of the episodes, the sheer amount of ships waiting on the other side was enough to worry the entire federation. Had the prophets not stopped them from coming through the entire AQ would have been summarily fucked. and that was with the preparation time.

This is even worse because now you are having just enough ships to take DS9 against the entire military of the Federation.

who said anything about just enough? naturally after the first wave of invasion they'd have the rest of the fleet come through the wormhole.

More due to policy than technology, and that was before the war. In order to get enough ships around the wormhole in order to thwart a full scale Dominion invasion through the wormhole. The Federation would have to deploy a large percentage of starfleet in the Bajoran system. Probably would take a few months, and a fundamental shift in the Federation's deployment policies.

After first contact with the Dominion, the President could've said, "Starfleet, you will deploy 1000 combat ready Starships in the Bajoran sector in x months. Klingons we want you to deploy 1000 warships in the Bajoran sector. it would present huge logistical problems, political problems, and would require great sacrifices on the part of starfleets other deployments and non-military operations. But it could be done if there was the political will to do so.

That would've made a Dominion assault infeasible, and the Dominion would probably end up collapsing the wormhole on thier end as a result.

If it took as long as you say it would, then if anything that would give the dominion an even greater chance to demolish the federation, since it would take them so long to get the necessary ships to that sector. Especially if the dominion sent hundreds of ships through the wormhole at a time.

[TheDarkling]

Remember that when the Dominion ran their little simulation on Sisko and co he destroyed the wormhole.

The Romulans also attempted to destroy the wormhole once they received intelligence on the Dominion.

The first thing the Dominion did before bringing its force through to "take over" Cardassia was shoring up the wormhole (because the first thing the Federation attempted when hearing of the imminent invasion was to attempt to collapse the wormhole).

Given all of this it is likely the Dominion feared that once the Federation saw their fleet coming the first thing Sisko would do (with or without orders) would be to collapse the wormhole.

Even if they managed to get past this they would still have to heavily guard the wormhole against a cloaked attack and they would also have to guard Bajor’s sun to prevent somebody cause it to Nova and destroying the wormhole (and their fleet) that way.

The Dominion obviously waited until they could ensure the safety of the wormhole and intended to build up enough of a force to guarantee their control of the wormhole without reinforcements.

Starfleet in pretty much their one and only display of backbone circumvented this plan by mining the entrance to the wormhole.

[Darth Wong]

Remember that when the Dominion ran their little simulation on Sisko and co he destroyed the wormhole.

The Romulans also attempted to destroy the wormhole once they received intelligence on the Dominion.

All the more reason to seize the beachhead in force rather than letting the AQ powers have two years to stew over the decision over whether they should try to shut it down on you. You're not helping your case here.

The first thing the Dominion did before bringing its force through to "take over" Cardassia was shoring up the wormhole (because the first thing the Federation attempted when hearing of the imminent invasion was to attempt to collapse the wormhole).

They had been considering the option for years; the Dominion was lucky they hadn't already done it.

Given all of this it is likely the Dominion feared that once the Federation saw their fleet coming the first thing Sisko would do (with or without orders) would be to collapse the wormhole.

All the more reason NOT TO WARN THEM ABOUT HOW DANGEROUS AND MALEVOLENT YOU ARE. Just collect intel quietly and then suddenly show up with 3000 ships one day.

Even if they managed to get past this they would still have to heavily guard the wormhole against a cloaked attack and they would also have to guard Bajor’s sun to prevent somebody cause it to Nova and destroying the wormhole (and their fleet) that way.

They had to do that anyway. Next point, please.

The Dominion obviously waited until they could ensure the safety of the wormhole and intended to build up enough of a force to guarantee their control of the wormhole without reinforcements.

I'd love to see a war conducted using your strategies. Warn the enemy years in advance of doing anything in order to make sure that he won't do anything to foul up your only avenue of attack. And this makes sense because ... what, exactly? The fact that the Federation didn't do it even though it made sense?

Starfleet in pretty much their one and only display of backbone circumvented this plan by mining the entrance to the wormhole.

Yeah, and it would have been so much easier to mine that wormhole if the Dominion had just showed up one day with 3000 ships and blown DS9 out of the sky instead of giving Sisko two years to come up with a plan

[Bellator]

to me it seemed like the Dominion wanted to take the AQ with as little trouble and cost as possible. Before invading, they tried to infiltrate, cripple or bribe/threathen every mayor power in the AQ so that they'd either be no threath, or even a potential ally. In their calculations, this would have been the easiest, most efficient and cheapest way to take over the AQ. And they would have been right, if it wasn't for the Prophets.

But of course, history is written by the victors. If they had won, which they could/should have, they'd be applauded for their cunning strategy. Even by Wong. But of course, then we'd all be watching Weyoun aboard a Dominion battlecruisers battling it out with Shinzon's Scimitar.

What kind of idiot gives a totally unprepared and outmatched enemy so much advance warning of his intentions?

The kind that can make it into the Whitehouse? Just look at how the US handled the situation in the run up to the Second Gulf War.

[FTeik]

Keep in mind, that in a way the AQ-powers were the aggressors, continually invading the territory of the Dominion. At the beginning the Dominion just wanted to be left alone.

In that episode, where they Jem´Hadar whipped out the Tal´Shair and the Obsidian Order the ships used were JH-beetles, not a single large cruiser.

Those beetles are enough to occupy and patrol territory, but i doubt, that the fleet of the Dominion was designed as a warfleet for large wars over territory.

Because of that i think, that the Dominion needed the time to build up its fleet, especially ships with longer endurance, the ability to transport huge armies and everything necessary to set up an infrastructure to support their warefforts on the other side of the whormhole given how slow warpdrive is.

As for the rest, well, if they wanted to prepare the ground for their invasion by seeding discord, breaking up alliances and so on they also risked their presence to be know one way or the other.

Aside from that, i think it possible, that the founders tried to play psychological warfare (just look at Paradise Lost), but didn´t get the result they wanted - given that the founders failed to truly understand (if they even wanted to understand the "solids") their enemies (to be more precise the few that mattered = Sisko, Martok, ...) this is no surprise.

[andrewgpaul]

Why did they telegraph their military intent for 2 years? Well, like everything else in that universe, they're stupid next question

[TheDarkling]

All the more reason to seize the beachhead in force rather than letting the AQ powers have two years to stew over the decision over whether they should try to shut it down on you. You're not helping your case here.

Once they learned they couldn't diplomatically annex the wormhole (what the simulation was mainly about) they then set about gaining a favourable position in the AQ.

They had been considering the option for years; the Dominion was lucky they hadn't already done it.

But they would have done it the second the big Dominion fleet was picked up by the listening posts, the Dominion knew that and so had to plan around it.

All the more reason NOT TO WARN THEM ABOUT HOW DANGEROUS AND MALEVOLENT YOU ARE. Just collect intel quietly and then suddenly show up with 3000 ships one day.

The Federation was already learning they existed before they announced themselves, so the Dominion decided to try and gain the maximum amount of Intel in the shortest amount of time by using the simulation.

They had to do that anyway. Next point, please.

The Federation botched their timetable, however even with that they were able to sideline the Romulans and Cardassians which would still have been a threat if they had just shown up in force.

I'd love to see a war conducted using your strategies. Warn the enemy years in advance of doing anything in order to make sure that he won't do anything to foul up your only avenue of attack. And this makes sense because ... what, exactly? The fact that the Federation didn't do it even though it made sense?

They didn't warn them years in advance, the Federation and Ferengi were already learning of the Dominions existence before the Dominion tried to slip them a spy and warn them off.

They couldn't remain hidden forever (interstellar Empires can't just move themselves a few hundred light years to the left on a whim, nor do they conveniently fit under a hedge) and so decided to gain more Intel through direct means along with destabilising the AQ.

Yeah, and it would have been so much easier to mine that wormhole if the Dominion had just showed up one day with 3000 ships and blown DS9 out of the sky instead of giving Sisko two years to come up with a plan

No the listening post in the GQ would have picked up the 3000 ship fleet and Sisko would have blown the wormhole, or the Romulans would have shown up and done the same (or just taken out the entire system) or the combined fleets of the Klingons, Romulans, Federation and Cardassians would have converged on the area to repel the Dominion which is forced to concentrate large amounts of force on the wormhole (which could be wiped out in one cloaked suicide run on the Sun).

[Sir Sirius]

I tend to somewhat agree with FTeik here. The Dominion could simply have been unable to mounted a large scale invasion right away. In real life few nations maintain the cabability to mount large scale invasions at a moments notice. Sure the US can invade Iraq on a relatively short notice, but the gap between the US and Iraq in technology and resources was vast, larger then that between the UFP and her allies and the Dominion for sure.