VP’s Warning to N. Korea: US Won’t Take Threats
THE ISSUE: Vice President Pence’s statement that “all options are on the table” in neutralizing nuclear threats.
Vice President Mike Pence’s first warning to North Korea should be the last one the United States issues (“‘The sword stands ready,’ ” April 20).
Unlike prior wars, where an attack somewhere started a long ground war, we cannot wait until Kim Jong-un sends a nuke over here.
It is time to hit that country hard. Take out its military establishment, its nuke and rocket sites and its troops near the South Korean border — everything.
It’s one thing to wait till a bully punches you before taking him out. It’s another to wait till you’re nuked before taking aggressive action. Steve Becker East Meadow
When President Dwight Eisenhower visited US troops on the Korean front in December 1952, it hardly occurred to the Americans serving that the two countries would be on the verge of another war nearly 70 years later.
It’s time for Eisenhower-style deterrence to convince Kim Jong-un to take the path of peace.
If anything, President Trump’s dispatch of an “armada” to the western Pacific, coupled with US military strikes in Syria and Afghanistan this month, is likely to convey the president’s modus operandi to the North Korean dictator.
Perhaps Kim will realize he is being offered a choice between diplomacy and aggression. Brian Stuckey Denver, Colo.
Edward Mitchell’s suggestion that we shouldn’t “saber-rattle” against North Korea is that same weak mentality that caused the deaths of millions of people when Europe sat back and did nothing while Adolf Hitler rose to power (Letters, April 19). The stakes are a lot higher now.
A missile from North Korea does not even have to strike its target. The nuclear fallout would cause mass hysteria, illness and death.
Eliminate the problem right now before it’s too late. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Matthew Galcik Montauk
North Korea has threatened the United States with a “Super Mighty Preemptive Strike.” I find myself laughing at this threat and thinking of Dean Wormer in “Animal House” with his “Double Secret Probation.” The ending of the conflict with this crazy dictator should be interesting. John Boldt The Bronx