Tipsheet

CBS News: Climate Change Helped the Taliban Reconquer Afghanistan. Also, No.

We have Americans trapped in Afghanistan. We have chaos in Kabul. Our citizens are afraid to venture out to get to safety—and we have CBS News talking about how the real ally in the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan was so-called global warming. Talk about stretching a narrative to its limit. What in the fresh hell is this? They tried to scare us into cannibalizing economic growth during hurricane season it wasn’t until global warming that strong storms appeared or something. Then, there were the wildfires spiraling out of control when all states needed to do was simple forest management and controlled burns. The green freaks in California didn’t like that so mother nature had tons of tinder to burn. And now, we must tackle climate change otherwise we’re supporting the terrorists. What’s the name of this circus again (via CBS News):

Rural Afghanistan has been rocked by climate change. The past three decades have brought floods and drought that have destroyed crops and left people hungry. And the Taliban — likely without knowing climate change was the cause — has taken advantage of that pain.

[…]

Whether from drought or flood-ravaged soil, farmers in the region struggle to maintain productive crops and livestock. When they cannot profitably farm, they're forced to borrow funds to survive. When Afghans can't pay off lenders, the Taliban often steps in to sow government resentment.

"If you've lost your crop and land or the Afghan government hasn't paid enough attention [to you] then of course, the Taliban can come and exploit it," said Kamal Alam, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center.

The Taliban has capitalized on the agricultural stress and distrust in government to recruit supporters. Alam said the group has the means to pay fighters more, $5-$10 per day, than what they can make farming.

[…]

"With poverty and war and everything else, climate change is the last thing on anyone's mind," said Alam.

Today, one-third of Afghans are in "crisis" or "emergency" levels of food insecurity due to drought, a danger potentially more threatening than the historic 2018 drought that left thousands dead.

Farajalla said even Afghans who move into the urban areas in order to leave the stress of farming behind still cannot escape the pressures of "people of ill repute."

Yeah, that’s it right there buried in all this global warming nonsense: Afghanistan is poor. It’s a poor country with poor people and the Taliban offered money to buy support. Poor people, Taliban offering money, and an inept central government unable to keep the country together. Gee—I wonder how Afghanistan collapsed so suddenly. It’s a mystery wrapped in a riddle.