More Aid from the US

It is the North Koren government that is bad mouthing us and threatening us, and I bet the leaders EAT fine. This is a hard one for me to judge. Cause I know the N. Korean people are just that, people caught in a bad bad situation with a government who severely oppresses them. I'd send the food, but what then? The leaders eat it all and the people still starve. Or if by some slim chance the people DO get the food, how long until it runs out? Unfortunately, the way I see it, private ministries and charities should do what they can to get some relief to the south Koreans and the US government stay out of it. BTW...where's the UN? why isn't it doing something?

That aid will not go to the people. The government will grab it. If one has to help the North Koreans, it would have to be the churches who of course will send people and missionaries there to see that the food goes to the right people. Giving food indiscriminately does not work.

oh.hell.no. at the risk of sounding harsh-they've been threatening us for how long lately? they should have thought of that.you never know who will actually get the food. japan,i'll send to. we have people in my town that are hungry also.

First, North Korea is still out of control and I cannot understand why we would want to send aid to a country that still rants and raves about nuclear weapons and takes pot shots at South Korea. Secondly, it quite frankly annoys me that we would send food to another country when we have people in this country that are suffering. I live in a relatively affluent area and can you imagine my surpise when I learned that a food bank was set up at our community center? People in the U.S. have lost their homes, their jobs and many are homeless and hungry. We've got the money to send food to a country whose leader barks about obliterating us but we can't feed and house our own citizens. Something is very wrong with this picture.

I think we need to worry about our own country before we help anyone elses. It just upsets me when I see a country bad mouth the USA then the first sign of them being in trouble the USA is the first ones they yell help to. There are so many people here in this country that go hungry, homeless, it is bad. Take care of America before anywhere else.

I have an idea... hope you will like it Why not ask them to send the starving people to the USA or even Australia & feed them there? They will be some of the best, hard-working citizens that anyone has ever seen. Politically, it seems to be a double-standard; they want you out, but still want your help. It's really tricky dealing with some countries. Similar debates & responses are going on over here. The people say we should be helping our own people first, the government says we have enough to do both at the same time. Hopefully the leaders of the countries involved, or the foreign diplomats, can talk & negotiate & come to some sort of arrangement over this issue that is becoming common for many countries all over the world.

I would have to agree with what it seemed everyone else said. We have people here in the United States who are without jobs, well below the poverty level, & even homeless. that food should really go to those people who are here trying to make it, but just having trouble. I have a feeling that there might be a reasoning for wanting to send food to aid them. One is that Senator Kerry has this notion that aid from the United States might make the government of North Korea grateful enough to give in to at least some of the demands of the United States, such as giving up trying to become a nuclear capable nation. Even if the food aid is sent, I don't think it would sway the North Korean government much, if at all. At the same time, Senator Kerry probably feels that the people of North Korea are just trying to live their lives & take care of their families. It's not completely their fault that they have such a government. He is probably right about that. At the same time, American people are also in the same situation. They should really be first priority, not some country trying to build nuclear ballistic missiles that can reach the United States & who do not want Americans near them.

The problem is that we never learn. These oppressive governments never cared about the living conditions of their people and never will. We give billions in aid, a lot of which never makes it to those who are actually suffering but rather into the hands of the ruling class who turn a tidy profit and live very well indeed. You know the old saying, give a man a fish and he eats for a day, give the government a bucket of fish and everyone starves equally. That's the beauty of Marxism/Communism/Stalinism or whatever label they decide to stick on their leader's lapels. It's not even about what we can afford or what we can't afford. It isn't about a moral imperative, either. It's about how to be good stewards of the bounty we have enjoyed in this country for so long. Heart before head has led to a lot of wasted money and unfulfilled promises. Yes, the American conscience leads us to do generous but often foolhardy things that sometimes can assist the repressive government to continue to repress and avoid political change that might effect a better future for the citizens. We can't blame ourselves for our generous nature, but we should hold our leaders accountable for how they administrate what we give them. It's probably time to stop feeding our enemies and starving our friends, both with aid and with other kinds of support - economic support, military support, etc. Let's put our dollars where they can work for us to secure a safer world and our national interests.

Since I was a child I've always believed we should take care of ourselves first. Our country is already in debt and there are people starving right here at home. If we were in better shape of course I'd be all for helping other nations.. but why can't we make our own problems a priority?

This is not a Constitutional function of our government and is tantamount to treason. We should end all foreign aid and allow other sovereign nations to fend for themselves. If individual US citizens want to help, that is their right.