The ODN had to pick a side. We had treaties in both sides, regardless of anything the ODN had to cancel treaties. We had days of discussions on which side to support. We had votes, I personally supported standing by our IRON brothers, until GOONS came along. While the ODN was, under WalkerNinja, trying to approach the Hegemony, NPO would not have us in any way. For a year we tried, and failed. Even so, some of us (myself included) hoped that one day the ODN would be consider as equals in a relationship that did not move forward.
We had no ties to NPO, we did not chose to cancel our treaties because IRON was getting hit by dozens of alliances. We decided to follow the path we did because we saw our treaties in the Karma side having more meaning. Treaties between equals, and friends. Not between a ruler and meatshields.
And the fact that we did it before it all came down. And let me tell you, we did not know it would be this much of $@! whooping, the ODN is not always the first to find out about stuff... coughGOONScough