After the war she turned herself over to the Federation to stand trial for war crimes. Specifically genocide as it relates to her order to kill every last Cardassian. A crime to be sure, but she shouldn't be alone. Someone within the Federation government had knowledge of Section 31's effort to exterminate the Founders and approved it, either by remaining silent and allowing it to proceed or by approving it directly. Section 31 cannot operate with complete autonomy, someone had to have been aware. That person or persons should have been charged as well. And what does the fact that they weren't say about the grand and noble Federation?

Comments?

The corrupt Federation makes for more interesting stories.

I wonder what would happen if the Dominion found out about Section 31's role in creating and spreading the virus.

I wonder if Ross knew about the virus. He knew about section 31 and helped them on that one occasion on Romulus. Probably they would not do anything to him because of his large part in the war but it would be interesting to know what he did know.

I too wonder what the Dominion would do if they knew about that. To me it depends on when they potentially found out. If it was before the end, then they probably would have fought to the last Jem'Hadar. If it was after, they might have seen it as payment for what they did and done nothing(although I would be willing to think that they would go to war again over it, I don't think that the Dominion is the treaty-breaking type.) Surely they would know after Odo's return to the Link, because he knew.

I agree that a less than perfect Federation makes for much better stories, but the Federation has always used its standards of ethics to convince itself of its moral superiority. It would be a bitter pill indeed for the citizens to realize that the Federation can be (and is) as sleazy as everyone else.

I also agree with Aaron. If the Female Changeling had found out before the end it would have been proof positive to her regarding the nature of the solids and she would have destroyed every Federation planet between the station and Earth.

The only time that genocide would have been acceptable is with the Borg. (Especially before First Contact made the Borg a more "human" enemy with the advent of the queen.) The Borg at that time were an unstoppable force that, if beaten would adapt and return. Negotiation was irrelevant. Resistance was futile. Live or die were the only options. Then there would be no choice. The fact that Picard made the choice he did in "I,Borg" still irks me. That decision cost countless lives. I would've wiped out the Borg and not mourned for a second.

Why couldn't section 31 work with out complete autonomy. It would make their job easier if they did not have to deal with the beaucracy of the Federation.

Because absolute autonomy would eventually breed contempt for the Federation itself. ("We're out here in the trenches doing all this dirty work to preserve the Federation. We should be in charge.")Some committee within the Federation must set policy and priorities for them. Even the most secret intelligence agencies in the U.S. (The CIA and NSA) have oversight committees within the Senate to which they report and ultimately Congress does control their actions.

Section 31 works around the Federation. It dosen't have a headquarters, It has men in the highest levels of the Federation and Starfleet. No one knows anything about them. I would guess that they work like the Syndicate in the X-files, where it's members have legimate jobs in the Federation and every other Government. Solan Summed it up nicely "The Federation needs Men like you Bashir, but it needs men like me to protect men like you." That's why they don't revolt.(Plus the fact that they are aware of only 5 others existance in the organization.)