Cease Fire (Episode Guide)
Right off the bat the story jumps into the current debate over weapons inspections in Iraq and the impending U.S. response to Iraqi resistance. Sitting at the Captain's table, discussing the Andorian-Vulcan situation over dinner, T'Pol explains the history behind the disputed world. She says that the planet's only value is its strategic location. Situated near Vulcan space, the Andorian move to terraform the small world caused the Vulcans to believe that they were setting up a military base. When the Andorians refused to let the Vulcan High Command inspect the colony, the Vulcans annexed the planet by force.
Clearly this is a parallel to the initial refusal and then resistance by the Iraqis to U.N. weapons inspectors. The U.S. decision to invade if its demands are not met is right in line with the Vulcan decision to annex the planet. Whether or not the U.S. will set up a colony in Baghdad remains to be seen. (Of course there won't be an American settlement there, but chances are the country will be occupied for several years.)
One question that remains, of course, is, Why is this land so important in the first place? This ties us in to the Kashmir dispute that has kept India and Pakistan at each other's throats for more than half a century. In the case of Kashmir, the conflict has both ethnic/religious and strategic facets to it. The conflict is also much older than the one portrayed in "Cease Fire," going back in one form or another for somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 years. In the Vulcan-Andorian dispute over "Pon Mekhar," the issue seems to be primarily strategic. In fact, T'Pol says that the planet's only value is its strategic location. Situated near Vulcan space, the Andorian move to terraform the small world caused the Vulcans to believe that they were setting up a military base. This prompted the Vulcans to attempt to retake it.
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