US to give 50 tons of food to North Korea (again)

I love it. We have a country run by a pretty messed up dictator, who is refusing to peacefully discuss their nuclear intentions, and who constantly bashes our president, and other top government officials, and yet we continue to feed their starving children.

The United States has said it would provide 50,000 tonnes of food aid to North Korea, but the World Food Program said it was not enough to meet the "desperate" need of the people.

U.S. Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said on Wednesday the pledge was made in response to a WFP appeal as a humanitarian gesture unrelated to efforts to restart stalled six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program.

"Our decisions are made on humanitarian considerations solely," he said, adding the amount was determined after a review of the need in North Korea, competing needs around the world and the ability of humanitarian organizations to monitor the assistance.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, WFP Asia Director Anthony Banbury called the donation "an important contribution but it is not enough."

"We are very grateful for it," Banbury said. "We will try and move to get that food into the country as soon as possible. But we need more than 50,000 tonnes. We need over 200,000 tonnes."

www.cnn.com...

Then they tell us thery are thankful for the food, but it's not enough.

[edit on 23-6-2005 by mpeake]

What kills me is, we (the USA) does this kind of thing all day long all across the globe. But we are still the most hated and attacked nation on the planet. And when all is said and done, the USA gets criticized for it. You can’t win, I know what the problem is, but I’m not going to open that can of worms here.

The problem is it's not going to feed their starving children, most of it is diverted to the military and party officials well before the poor get anything.

yeah yeah, stix and carrots, thats what US does around the globe.....ask Rumsfeld, he will tell you all about it.... i actually got the term from his explanation of US foreign policy

Originally posted by mpeake
Then they tell us thery are thankful for the food, but it's not enough.

That statement implies that the WFP = the North Korean government.

Originally posted by skippytjc
What kills me is, we (the USA) does this kind of thing all day long all across the globe. But we are still the most hated and attacked nation on the planet. And when all is said and done, the USA gets criticized for it. You can’t win, I know what the problem is, but I’m not going to open that can of worms here.

Skippy, I know you are not stupid. But how can you sit there and type that and gladly hit the post button? Do you honestly believe that because you send 50,000 tons of food to North Korea that the flip side gets neatly forgotten by those it affects in the rest of the world?

FFS man.

Originally posted by nukunuku
yeah yeah, stix and carrots, thats what US does around the globe.....ask Rumsfeld, he will tell you all about it.... i actually got the term from his explanation of US foreign policy

Since I don't have Rummy's cell phone #, I can't really ask him...so can you give me some sources for this info?

wtf... why are we helping north korea? they are not giving up their nukes... it took them liek what... 50 years to have nukes and you want them to give up? not going to happen...

From 1995 to 2003 America gave 2 million metric tons of food to N. Korea.
www.state.gov...
And just how much of this actually went to the people?
How much was diverted to the military?
Considering who is in power over there .....
A friggn' waste of my tax money. If it went to the
people in need it would be one thing ... but we know it doesn't.

This is a freaking a waste of my parent's tax dollars... i rather give the 50 ton food to africa who are dieing everyday because of not enough food... and besides there are a lot here in the US who don't have enough food... i guess the North Koreans who want to nuke us is more important than the americans, our leaders seems to think so.

and like someone say... i can bet you the 49.9 percent of food will go to the NK's military, not the people there!

[edit on 24-6-2005 by ulshadow]

Here's an idea. Why don't we solve food problems HERE (US) FIRST. Send 40 tons of food to NK, but forget about your own citizens. What is wrong with this equation? Does not compute.

[edit on 24-6-2005 by BadMojo]

Originally posted by BadMojo
Here's an idea. Why don't we solve food problems HERE (US) FIRST. Send 40 tons of food to NK, but forget about your own citizens. What is wrong with this equation? Does not compute.

[edit on 24-6-2005 by BadMojo]

we cant BadMojo, because we are being blackmailed, so we have to share some food to the North Koreans because of nuke threat. so we have to do wat we have here. im sure the American people agrees with Bush that we must appease!! then get nuke over food. after all its just food right?

Originally posted by mpeake

Originally posted by nukunuku
yeah yeah, stix and carrots, thats what US does around the globe.....ask Rumsfeld, he will tell you all about it.... i actually got the term from his explanation of US foreign policy

Since I don't have Rummy's cell phone #, I can't really ask him...so can you give me some sources for this info?

I was just using the terminology i heard in an interview with him or Colin Powell (i dont remember which one), its actually quite often used in politics, as i just found out

i just googled this randomly, its from wall street journal:

"But the U.S., with its stake in Iraq and the Persian Gulf, its opposition to terrorist groups that Iran sponsors, and its commitment to spreading democracy in the Mideast, cannot be indifferent to a nuclear Iran . The problem is not that we have yet to hit on the right mix of carrots and sticks to cajole Iran into responsibility. The problem is that Iran's theocratic regime is by its nature inimical to American interests; any move that extends its life also prolongs the hazard it poses to the U.S."

LINK

sorry i wasnt more specific the first time, i was in a hurry


any help is better than none, but 50t is more like a symbolical gesture i think.
Still it wont help feed the people there, they have to feed themselves eventually.

Oh, and i doubt theyll feed the children with it, probably the army...

[edit on 24-6-2005 by nukunuku]

Minor nit: the title says 50 tons, the actual figure is 50,000 tons.

Isn't there some international agency like the UN that can be on hand to distribute the food to the needy, and make sure it doesn't end up in military bellies? Isn't ths part of what the UN is chartered to do?