Bitter Harvest

Jesus:

YAKOWLANG, Afghanistan — A pitiable harvest this year has left small farmers all over central and northern Afghanistan facing hunger, and aid officials are warning of an acute food shortage this winter for nine million Afghans, more than a quarter of the population.

The crisis has been generated by the harshest winter in memory, followed by a drought across much of the country, which come on top of the broader problems of deteriorating security, the accumulated pressure of returning refugees and the effects of rising world food prices.

The failure of the Afghan government and foreign donors to develop the country’s main economic sector, agriculture, has compounded the problems, the officials say. They warn that the food crisis could make an already bad security situation worse.

In the old days of Rome and even Final Fantasy, you could put a big dent in your opponent during wartime if you cut off their food supply. It's kind of hard to shoot an arrow or swing a sword if you're suffering from malnutrition.

Of course, the difference here (besides this being 2008 and not a video game) is that the people suffering are supposed to be our allies.

In case you can't see the down side to this, well:

Returning refugees are already converging on the cities because they cannot manage in the countryside, and they make easy recruits for the Taliban or other groups that want to create instability, said Ashmat Ghani, an opposition politician and tribal leader from Logar Province, south of Kabul, the nation’s capital.

“The lower part of society, when facing hunger, will not wait,” he said. “We could have riots.”

If 25% of a country is put out like this, riots would just be the beginning.