"They're going to begin dying like bloody flies," said Ed Rist, head of CARE's East Africa unit. "I don't think we've seen anything quite like this."; Even as Africa slips into what could become the worst human disaster in its history, there is debate about whether the United States should aggressively intervene or offer assistance with political conditions attached.; And a spate of disasters worldwide is sending attention and humanitarian aid elsewhere.; In Latin America, more than 160,000 cholera cases have been reported, including 1,203 deaths. On the Turkey-Iraq border, thousands of Kurdish families still bury their dead and struggle to survive.; In Bangladesh, rescue workers continue to find drowned babies lashed to uprooted trees, tied on by parents who wanted to protect their young from the cyclone that devastated the country.; "Interest in a disaster is contingent on media coverage," said Alex deWaal, associate director of London-based Africa Watch. "It's become a bit of a circus. When there is coverage, politicians take an active interest and it becomes a policy issue. You're not seeing that coverage in Africa yet."; Other famines there, most recently in the mid- and late 1980s, focused the attention of Westerners with the media's shocking images of the crisis, including skeletal children suckling at their mothers' dry breasts.; Such photos of the current crisis are hard to come by because of the lack of media coverage.; "By the time we see the kind of pictures that would motivate people to act, it will be too late," said Peter Laugharn, coordinator for Save the Children's Horn of Africa program.; Already, however, hundreds of Africans in Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia may be on the verge of death by starvation, relief workers say. Because of internal government opposition, civil war and an undeveloped infrastructure, delivering food supplies and obtaining accurate numbers are difficult and sometimes impossible, they say.; "We know there are places almost out of food," said Rist.; Just as the need is exploding, however, resources of relief programs such as CARE are decreasing, according to reports from the General Accounting Office and the Committee on Refugees.; The United States remains the world's biggest aid donor, contributing more than $250 million last year. And some in Congress are trying to guarantee that money and the supplies it buys get to their proper destination.; A comprehensive hunger bill, for example, was introduced by Rep. Tony Hall, D-Ohio, chairman of the Select Committee on Hunger. The bill would make it a human rights violation to use food as a weapon, said a staff member. It would authorize U.N. intervention if a country blocked aid from its population. Several African governments, including Sudan, have been accused in the past of doing just that.; Human rights violations outlined in reports by Africa Watch and Amnesty International have led some people to suggest that the United States and United Nations should attach conditions to humanitarian aid. Otherwise, they say, food often is given to soldiers, who in turn keep oppressive governments in power.; Although officials at the Agency for International Development won't confirm it, relief workers say the agency diverted a shipment of food from Mozambique until the country promised the food would be delivered to its hungry population instead of to the army.
There is an extensive history of drought and famine in Africa and it is devastating . Twenty - seven million people are now facing famine . Millions have died . Some governments have refused relief supplies for portions of their countries under rebel control , thus increasing famine levels . U.S. donations to aid run into the millions . Because of the enormity of the problem , donor governments have difficulty in keeping up with requests . The government is cautious about pulling strings to aid . Military forces in Africa have seized some food supplies for themselves and these forces keep the governments in check .