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Matthew Hoh, a Senior Official in Afghanistan, Resigns Over U.S. Strategy

Matthew Hoh, a Senior Official in Afghanistan, Resigns Over U.S.
Strategy
Former Marine Says It Will Take Decades And Billions of Dollars to
Achieve Success in Afghanistan
By MARTHA RADDATZ and HUMA KHAN


A key U.S. official in Afghanistan has resigned in protest over U.S.
policy in the war-torn region, as the Obama administration deliberates
its future strategy there.


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A former Marine turned diplomat resigns in protest over the war in
Afghanistan.Matthew Hoh, 36, a senior foreign service officer, wrote a
four-page letter to Ambassador Nancy Powell, director general of the
foreign service at the State Department, to express his "doubts and
reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy,"
as first reported by the Washington Post today.

"To put simply, I fail to see the value or the worth in the continued
U.S. casualties or expenditures of resources in support of the Afghan
government in what is, truly, a 35-year-old civil war," the former
Marine wrote in the emotional letter.

Hoh spent six years in Iraq, where he served as a Marine Corps captain
and then as a civilian for the Department of Defense.


Hoh told the Washington Post he decided to speak out publicly because
"I want people in Iowa, people in Arkansas, people in Arizona, to call
their congressman and say, 'Listen, I don't think this is right.'"

The U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl W. Eikenberry, and Richard
Holbrooke, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan,
apparently tried to talk Hoh out of resigning. The latter even offered
him a job but Hoh declined, according to the Post.

Hoh's resignation comes as a blow to the Obama administration, which
has yet to decide whether it will send more U.S. troops to
Afghanistan, as the lead commander on the ground, Gen. Stanley
McChrystal, has requested.

Speaking at the Naval Base in Jacksonville, Fla., Monday, President
Barack Obama stressed the importance of the issue and explained why,
despite some criticism, he's taking his time to decide.

"I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's
way," the president told servicemen and women. "I won't risk your
lives unless it is absolutely necessary. And, if it is necessary, we
will back you up to the hilt. Because you deserve the strategy, the
clear mission, the defined goals and the equipment and support you
need to get the job done."

The president also acknowledged the challenges that lie ahead in the
region.

Fourteen Americans died Monday in three helicopter crashes, with one
involved in anti-drug operations, making it the deadliest day for U.S.
casualties in Afghanistan in four years.

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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/matthew-hoh-resigns-us-strategy-afghanistan/story?id‰24500

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