In the past twenty years, a tremendous amount of natural disasters have occurred both in the United States and abroad. In an effort to support the world's people, the United States has often offered assistance during the aftermath and long term. Just recently, an 8.1 earthquake devastated West Korea, a small country in the Eastern regions of Asia. After the earthquake, large swells formed in the Pacific Ocean, causing a tsunami that completely wiped out West Korean coastal cities. Currently, the United States government is debating whether or not it should send aid to the West Koreans in an effort to help them recover from this natural disaster. .
Though the U.S has assisted many other countries affected by natural disasters, U.S intervention in West Korea's massive earthquake poses several disadvantages that may discourage the U.S from aiding the recovery process. First of all, rebuilding after natural disasters, in general, is extremely expensive. For example, in the 2010 Haiti Earthquake alone, approximately $1.4 billion dollars were donated in just a year. Consequently, at the same time, the United States raised the "national debt ceiling by $1.9 trillion, totaling a whopping $14.3 trillion, which is about the same size as the nation's overall economy" (Lubold). Aiding Haiti's rebuilding efforts greatly undermined the U.S economy and added to the already building wall of debt. Likewise, the 1989 Bangladesh tornado yielded similar economic downturns. To aid the recovery of Bangladesh from the cyclone, the U.S government sent more than an astounding $7.2 million dollars to the Bangladesh government in the form of food, medicine, and military efforts (Berke). .
On the outside, this $7.2 million dollar donation may appear small. However, at the same time of the Bangladesh tornado, the U.S was also dealing with several other events that affected the economy. For example, the U.S government signed into fruition the Saving and Loans Bailout law which cost approximately $400 billion over a period of thirty years (Berke).