You can't fight a war that leads to the deaths of thousands of members of a society in order for that society to radically alter the way it interacts with you and then still expect the very rules you were fighting against to protect you if you need them to.
You can either fight for independence or expect the assistance of Templars and those espousing their beliefs. You can't have both.
Damn right.
I mean Zeon fights for independence all the time, and they do anything and everything in their power to succeed, they kick off the most devastating series of wars in human history to that effect. But at the same time? They stick to what they fight for, they keep fighting because they are unwilling to accept the token concessions and rule of Earth, this is why you have a period of conflict spanning a half century, between the Federation and Zeon, and at the end of it no one really won. Billions of people dead, entire generations raised to hate each other and at the end of the day? The Federation crumbles, and Zeon's politics get outdated.
So yes I am in full agreement here, fight if you want but don't expect the box to be closed again as easily, Zeon and Federation went through a few periods of peace that ended for one reason or another, and ultimately its about the same for this war. You have the two sides, their stances and politics, and both sides willingly to commit to and proceed to kill each other, that doesn't go away. There is no 'timeout' in war.