End appeasement of North Korea

Peace in our time. The 1938 slogan issued by England's Neville Chamberlain after surrendering Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler, the last list of appeasement activities that took place leading up to World War II, should serve as a stern reminder of retreating in the face of evil.

Three sitting presidents including Clinton, Bush and Obama practiced appeasement with Korea by engaging in what can be rightfully called "ransom payments for good behavior." In the end, aid promised and given to North Korea did not check the nation's bad behavior but in fact actually emboldened it.

Today, six months into his term, President Trump must clean up the mess that was created by 24 years of appeasement activities. During those 24 years (and our accompanying "ransom" payments), the North Koreans starved their populace and spent the regimes capital on nuclear warhead and ICBM development - are we really surprised?

We stand today on a dangerous precipice where North Korea has the ability to launch nuclear warheads at the continental USA - all made possible because the previous leadership "kicked the can down the road."

We stand today at a crossroads where massive destruction is imminent on the Korean Peninsula. And to those of you who say we should back pedal, again I say this: Better to fight the North Koreans today when they only have a handful of weapons than to sit back and give them more time to build and to perfect their destructive capability.

Failing to do so only sets the stage for an even wider, more violent conclusion to this situation.

Dale Plautz

Round Lake Beach