Appeasement

So, I read this story, and I have to say... have we not learned from history? First, lets think about recent history: how many times have we heard that North Korea would consider getting rid of their nuclear capabilities? It's a bargaining chip! Goodness! And every time we give them our part, they end up finding another reason not to disarm. What's going to change? They've got a good thing going!

But then, if we go back a little bit, we've got the way the international community treated Hitler. Now, I'm not saying Kim Jong Il is Hitler. I'm comparing the international community response: when appeasement was all we went for, we got absolutely nothing, and we gave up everything... you know, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and France. Now, again, I'm not comparing the leader of North Korea to Hitler. But, haven't we learned yet that with certain types of people, negotiation doesn't get us anywhere?

On the other hand, I guess we have to try to negotiate. I guess I'm just not optimistic that someone who has reneged on agreements before will start keeping them now. What's the alternative? I don't know... it's a different world. We can just not deal with them at all. Germany couldn't be shut down that way very effectively, but business is so international today that it could work. Who knows.