Why Trump Has to Deal With North Korea

By Ray DiLorenzo —— Bio and Archives March 10, 2018

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Dealing with North Korea is nothing new. Past presidents have doled out their wisdom or lack of it for decades. In 1994, President Clinton, taking a break from being the party animal, received reports from the CIA that North Korea had built or was building nuclear warheads, complete with threats of turning Japan and South Korea into a "sea of fire." In a 'tough' response, Clinton sent the always self-anointed Jimmy Carter, our very own Neville Chamberlain, but with his empty suitcases, to Pyongyang to 'confront the threat.' Carter 'succeeded' by promising North Korea two new reactors and $5 billion in aid, all for a promise to not hurt us.

Clinton embraced the deal, with the usual sweeping Clinton assurance, "...an end to the threat of nuclear proliferation on the Korean Peninsula." Carter made his "peace in our time" speech, while receiving his Nobel Peace Prize - the same worthless prize Obama got for just winning his election. The world went back to sleep. In 2002, North Korea, in a rare moment of candor, confessed that they began violating the accord almost immediately after it was signed. Four years later, North Korea detonated its first atomic bomb. Fast forward to the Obama administration because nothing was done since. Obama says that the United States will never accept a nuclear North Korea - a rerun of the speech he gave about Iran. President Trump comes on the scene and is lambasted for not acting 'presidential' in dealing with North Korea - for not applying the same principles that didn't work then and wouldn't work now. The can had been kicked as far as it will go. Trump, unlike his predecessors, is squeezing the prison wardens of the north, making them almost cry with..."Can we talk?" This meeting can work if President Trump keeps the pressure on, refuses to reduce our presence in the area and makes them understand that any aggressive move will be met with the cessation of their leadership and their regime. It may sound harsh, but that is how the world works.