US Diplomat Resigns over Afghan War
(March 3, 2009 - Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images AsiaPac)
Fox News and the Washington Post featured a story yesterday of Matthew Hoh and his resignation in protest of the Afghan war. Hoh is an American diplomat and former Marine who was stationed with the State Department in Afghanistan. He resigned back in September and the news of his departure hit the news yesterday. I add this post not because I think the news is earth shattering, but only because I would scoff at Lib sites that would fail to report on a resignation that meant something. So here it is. These are the high points of his remarks. The full resignation is posted below.
“I have lost understanding of and confidence in the United States’ presence in Afghanistan. I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is not based upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end. To put simply: I fail to see the value or worth in continued US casualties or expenditures of resources in support of the Afghan government in what is, truly, a 35-year old civil war.”
Fox News
A former Marine who fought in Iraq, joined the State Department after leaving the military and was a diplomat in a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan has become the first U.S. official to resign in protest of the Afghan war, the Washington Post reported early Tuesday.
The administration is debating whether to send tens of thousands more troops to the country, while the Afghan government is moving to hold a Nov. 7 runoff election between President Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah. The runoff comes after complaints by international monitors of fraudulent voting in the first election.
ABC News, citing unnamed sources, reported Monday evening that Obama will likely announce his decision for Afghanistan between that nation’s runoff presidential election on Nov. 7, and the president’s departure for Tokyo, Japan, on Nov. 11.
“I won’t risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary,” Obama told service men and women at Naval Air Station Jacksonville on Monday. He promised a “clear mission” with defined goals and the equipment needed to get the job done.
Obama, who is in the process of weighing options put forward by the Pentagon that include various levels of increased troops, spoke of the latest example of the dangers and sacrifices there — helicopter crashes that killed 14 Americans in the deadliest day for the U.S. mission in Afghanistan in more than four years.
You can read his full resignation letter here
U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry brought him to Kabul and offered him a job on his senior embassy staff. Hoh declined. From there, he was flown home for a face-to-face meeting with Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“We took his letter very seriously, because he was a good officer,” Holbrooke said in an interview. “We all thought that given how serious his letter was, how much commitment there was, and his prior track record, we should pay close attention to him.”
While he did not share Hoh’s view that the war “wasn’t worth the fight,” Holbrooke said, “I agreed with much of his analysis.” He asked Hoh to join his team in Washington, saying that “if he really wanted to affect policy and help reduce the cost of the war on lives and treasure,” why not be “inside the building, rather than outside, where you can get a lot of attention but you won’t have the same political impact?”
A low level diplomat that we would not even know about if it weren’t for the media drumming it up to make Afghanistan seem like a nightmare. Can’t believe you posted this. Just gives credence to their arguments.
I agree with Manny. This is a nonstarter issue if it werent the popular story to report that diplomats are fleeing. What will they say when General Stanley McChrystal resigns?
His resignation is a publicity stunt put on by the administration to give credibility to its stalling. NO one should see it as anything else.
‘nonstarter’ issue? It is a major political diplomat resigning because the war there is lost and pointless. How is that not an issue? He worked day to day in that country and sees it as a waste of lives and resources. I would say that it is newsworthy.
I posted the story, so I obviously thought it was “newsworthy.” Do I think it is a gamechanger? Of course not. It is one man who was trying to make a political statement as is his right to do as an American citizen. Will many on the Right call him less than patriotic? I have no doubt they will. I believe one of the ultimate tests of a man’s convictions is whether he is willing to give up everything that he has to stand up for something he believes in. If that is what was at play here then I commend him. If this leads to a book deal in a month, then I will destroy him in every way possible in the months leading to its release. If you need an example – see Sarah Palin.
Cut him some slak Sophie. He posted it. Thats more than I would have done.
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