My point was that they intentionally created (or modified, it's been a while since I have seen the episodes) an intelligent race (that they had be naturally addited to a drug they manufacture) that can think and reason for the sole purpose of using them as cannon fodder. From our present day perspective (much less the future "enlightened" perspective) this is an evil act. I should have elaborated. They also killed their smarter soldiers (Weyoun) when they screwed up and they actually had personality. Just because you can make more doesn't mean throwing them away without a second thought isn't what most people would view as evil.
As someone else already mentioned, do they even have the manpower to crew anywhere near that number of ships? They clearly don't have great AI as they still can't replicate Data and seem to continue to marvel at his existence. So, I don't believe they could easily crew the ships with some type of AI. Also, perhaps there are some unknown limits on the replicators. A self replicating mine probably isn't as complicated as a full starship (if I had to guess). I suppose the real question is why the Dominion doesn't do that (I assume they don't) because they seem to be able to churn out soldiers endlessly. I'm not saying it's perfect. I am saying it was nice to see them actually use the technology they have in a halfway intelligent way for once instead of ignoring it.