But where’s the fun in THAT ??
Plus, as Kipling noted, once you pay the Danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane. . .
True enough, but Danegeld is usually, in the short term, a great deal less expensive than a war.
George Washington and John Adams both paid tribute to the Barbary pirates so our ship would not be molested. This was probably a lot less expensive than the cost of a military expedition.
It was left up to Jefferson, philosophically opposed to military action, to order the Navy and Marines into action against the enemy.