Yes, but their sense of patriotism was not destroyed and trampled into the ground by a horrible ideology that led them to destruction, such as was the case with Germany after WWII. They were morally finished as well as physically.
Not so the Cardassians. They turned on the Dominion out of pride and patriotism (which was a good thing), and most likely their morale was more like Germany's after WWI. Meaning that I sustain my opinion....breaking them down like that would only result in future conflict, fuelled by hatred and resentment rather than economic motives.
Sure you can't compare the Cardassians with pre-WWII Germany; the latter were more of a threat to everyone - although with the Dominion factored in, the Cardies were actually threatening to win the war, weren't they? They mostly didn't due to the awesome powers of deus ex machina.
But military might (or lack thereof) aside...no-one had any use for further war, even ten or twenty years in the future.
Helping them back on their feet, as the Americans have helped Germany after WWII, that's the way to pacify Cardassia...and it seems to me that's the Federation way, anyway. Stripping them of their dignity as well as their resources would backfire eventually, as the Cardassians aren't like to forget such a grievous insult...and if anything, they are resilient. They'd get there eventually.