History's warning, craven appeasement of North Korea means hell to pay later

A warning from history, we should plan now to avoid loss later.

It should be obvious by now that North Korea is embarked on a crash program to build an ICBM, and their ultimate aim is belligerent. Given this, it is time for the world to take North Korea to task and end the regime that threatens to kill millions of people across Asia and the Americas.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- The Romans had a proverb: He who does not strike first will be the first struck. The proverb is intended to inform statecraft. If your neighbor is behaving in a belligerent fashion, it is better to strike first on your terms, than to delay and fight on your enemy's terms.

There are many examples throughout history. The closest may be the policy of appeasement in the effort to avoid war with Nazi Germany. By delaying, the world ensured that the Second World War would be long and bloody, whereas a shorter conflict staged earlier might have avoided the tens of millions of casualties that resulted.

But the fog of war is an intimidating thing. We can only guess what capability North Korea really has, and how likely and capable they are of using it. We can only speculate their long-term intentions.

Experts claim to have sussed out the North's intentions. Their goal is to drive a diplomatic wedge between the U.S. and South Korea. They will leverage the termination of their nuclear program in exchange for an end to cooperation between the allies. Once South Korea stands weakened and alone, the North will invade, and do a better job than they did in 1950. But this too is speculation.

Most experts agree it is only a matter of time before we regret not dealing with North Korea sooner. Even if North Korea never fires a shot, their weapons technology is likely to end up in the hands of Pakistan and Iran, which have their own aims. Israel or India could suffer in the long term.

The world knows that diplomatic pressure doesn't work. There are not talks or accords that can be reached with North Korea. This is because their goal isn't mere survival and security. It's expansion. A nation that wants to be left alone will often find willing neighbors should it leave them alone. But the North has no intention of remaining a hermit kingdom.

The problem with an immediate conflict is the North's awesome conventional capabilities. Within an hour, North Korea has the ability to inflict up to 30,000 casualties on unsuspecting South Koreans. Over days, and should they use chemical, biological, or even a nuclear weapon, they could escalate that number into the millions. The cost is too high for South Korea to pay, so they could never accept a plan which places half their population into immediate danger.

Yet, their entire population faces growing danger by the day. Something has to be done.

That something is to strike North Korea sooner rather than later, and impose a change of leadership. Historically, this has not worked very well for the U.S. in the middle east, but this is a different region with a different history. It's reasonable to assume that North Korea could become more amicable if the nation had more reasonable leaders.

The U.S. and South Korea need to embark on a crash program to save lives and prepare for war. South Koreans need to drill and know where their bomb shelters are. The government needs to stockpile supplies and the means to evacuate Seoul. The United States needs to build up the material to expend in an open conflict. Troops needs to be trained how to fight in the mountainous terrain of the Korean peninsula, and the urban landscape of Pyongyang.

Conflict is coming to South Korea, whether the people there are ready or not. The only question that's undecided is when, and on who's terms.

The best way to resolve the inevitable conflict is to prepare the nations and their people for what is about to happen, then to initiate the hostilities on terms favorable to the U.S. and allies. To do anything else is negligent, and insures greater tragedies will result later. The writing is on the wall, we ignore the warnings at our peril.