With weeks to go in Joe Biden’s presidency, those within his administration are doing their best to keep pushing the agenda the American people clearly told to take a hike in November down their throats until the bitter end. Because most of that agenda is so ridiculous, conservatives have spent the last four years making fun of it. Thankfully, President-elect Donald Trump will obliterate much of that insanity on day one. But until then, they apparently intend to keep providing us with more unintended hilarity. If only it all wasn’t so deadly serious.
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The latest bit of comedy comes from the Pentagon. Maureen Farrell is the Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs. On Tuesday, at something called the Defense Writer’s Group, Farrell stated that an uptick among jihadist groups in the area and a general deterioration in the overall security status in the region is due to…wait for it…climate change.
New US Government Report: Climate Change ‘Not an Existential Threat’ to Humanity
The noticeable surge in jihadist activity is not new. In December of 2023, there were reports of the Islamic State expanding its influence in Africa, as well as other groups making their way across the continent. Farrell said, “Climate-stressed areas are a recruiting opportunity for terrorist groups.” If that leaves you scratching your head, here are mental gymnastics that Farrell and no doubt other leftists must engage in to arrive at this conclusion. She continued:
“Candidly, these are environments where violent extremists can thrive. When people, when families, when communities, reach a sense of desperation because of a lack of economic opportunity or agricultural failure or a lack of sustainable water sources, they are more easily lured by some of the offerings from violent extremists.”
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Farrell based her conclusion on the fact that the Somali jihadist group al-Shabab saw the numbers rise in their recruits when droughts hit Somalia. The left’s incessant excuse of climate change for terrorism in other parts of the world is also not new. In 2021, there was a report that the rise of the Taliban had occurred due to climate change. One of the worst offenders for pushing the climate change narrative is National Geographic, which has suggested that severe weather events like droughts and storms could intensify economic and political unrest, such as similar increases in ISIS recruitment and past conflicts in Afghanistan and Syria. Surely it is just a coincidence that jihadist violence has increased in places like Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger has nearly doubled since 2021 during the Biden administration.
Ultimately, it is just more liberal goblety-goop. Climate change has been a convenient excuse for things like crime rates, childhood obesity, and even hate speech. Researchers, thankfully not in the U.S., found that online hate speech increases when it gets hot. What a surprise, tempers flare when there is a heat wave, groundbreaking.
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A rise in jihadist activity happens because they are recruiting people who hate America and the West, period. It is just this kind of nonsense that Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, will no doubt eliminate should he be confirmed by the Senate. Blaming the rise in terrorist activity in hotspots around the world on climate change is a needless distraction from the actual rise in activity itself.
Next thing you know, liberals will be calling for a return of “jobs for jihadis.”
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