Kasich: Men, women and children are dying of malnutrition inside Syria

Republican presidential candidate John Kasich on Friday spoke out against the blockade of humanitarian aid in Syria. In a town hall meeting in Atkinson, New Hampshire Governor Kasich said, "Men, women and children are dying of malnutrition" inside Syria, The Economist reported.

The Assad regime, backed by Russian bombings, is preventing humanitarian convoys from reaching besieged cities. Kasich’s remarks came while answering a question about nuclear weapons reductions with Russia.

Malnutrition causes lasting physical and mental damage in children, or death. Humanitarian agencies like UNICEF try to bring the children life-saving food, such as the enriched peanut paste Plumpy’nut. Tragically, they are often blocked by military forces from reaching Syrian cities.

Peace talks in Geneva between the Assad regime and the opposition have stalled. Meanwhile, the Russian bombings of the opposition are escalating the conflict and displacing more civilians.

Children have starved to death in the besieged areas, sometimes within miles of life-saving aid. Over 100 humanitarian organizations appealed last month for "unconditional, monitored ceasefires to allow food and other urgent assistance to be delivered to civilians, vaccinations and other health campaigns, and for children to return to school." The Economist added.

The war and hunger in Syria is one of the top foreign policy issues facing the candidates. Largely as a result of the Syrian conflict, there are more war refugees globally than anytime since World War II.