Posted on 10/26/2009 11:53:57 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
WASHINGTON -- 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.
Matthew Hoh, who describes himself as "not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love," said he believes the war is simply fueling the insurgency.
"I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan," Hoh wrote in his resignation letter, dated Sept. 10 but published early Tuesday. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end."
The move sent ripples all the way to the White House, the paper said, where officials immediately appealed for him to stay out of fear he could become a leading critic.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
“Can the soldiers resign?”
Nope. I wouldn’t advise anyone to sign up right now.
Good point,,,
The fact remains that if the locals won’t man-up and fight
for their own country we are just wasting lives and $$$$$$.
In the 60’s it was 8 weeks BCT and 8 weeks AIT and the guys
went to the ‘Nam and whupped ass,,,
Ya’ just gotta wanna do it for your country,,,
The moozzi may never understand this,,,
ARVN didn’t either...
“There are no EX Marines.”
Murtha?
I agree with this Marine.
"Victory" has not been satisfactorily defined. What the effort in Afghanistan LOOKS LIKE is a chaotic attempt by a handcuffed US military to fight a guerrilla war in a stone-age cesspool of a place whose only claim to fame is that it's a major heroin supplier to the world. Great.
The way the article reads it implies that Hoh is resigning because U.S. policy is fueling the “insurgency” through our presence. His issue is more with the war rather than with strategy or the lack of real policy from the current Administration.
If the article has misconstrued his position and opinions (which is possible), then I apologize for being too harsh.
For sake of discussion he was not in active service.
Say what you will, I don’t consider Jack Murtha to be a Marine. I suspect there are a good many Marines who look on that the same way I do.
These are the same comments made about Iraq. The Iraqis did man up once they knew we weren’t going to cut and run. I can’t blame the locals for not wanting to commit until they know our fickle moon-doggie is serious.
If we surge in Afghanistan, we have a very good chance of getting it under control and handing off later to the nation’s own forces.
I don’t disagree with your premises based on Vietnam. Our troops did a great job there, but he leadership was full of it.
We need to avoid that mistake here. I believe we’re both convinced it’s all in our we pull out.
At any rate, nice talking to you. Take care.
(spits on the ground)...;0)
Your response is a good one that is backed up by freelance correspondent and former soldier Michael Yon (go to his website http://www.michaelyon-online.com for the article Adopt-a-stan). Counter-Morter’s (shouldn’t that be ‘mortar’?) point is unfortunately typically ‘western’ with a view of conflict as short and to-the-point. COIN strategies in The Philippines (early 20th Century), Malaya (late Forties) and parts of Vietnam and Laos did actually work but took years.
One of the problems is the view of time. By showing commitment over the long haul, the US and its allies can win over reticent civilian populations. As you point out, repeating the mistake of Vietnam will visit some serious problems upon our homeland because we will be seen as weak. The terrorists are already in the US; although we’re doing a reasonable job interrupting their actions, they’re easier to eliminate in South Asia than through the US court system.
I have written Murtha repeatedly demanding that he return his uniform and any commendations he received. IMHO, he is no longer qualified to wear either.
Also for the sake of discussion, once you earn the title of United States Marine, you wear it forever and guard it jealously.
as I have already responded this morning to another poster, I have written to Murtha asking that he return his uniform and any commendations as he is no longer qualified to display either IMHO.
to call Murtha an Ex Marine would not be correct as there are no ex Marines, only former Marines.
If I have to explain it to you, you are never going to understand.
The article says he is a former Marine. I take that to mean he either retired or got out. Either way, he’s now a civilian and can resign.
Sure would help if they (the Obamites) figured out what the mission was over there
But I know, don’t rush him. He’s got more important things to work on: destroy Fox news, go golfing, take Michelle (ma Belle) out, and so on. He’ll get to it eventually.
Counter-Morter’s (shouldn’t that be ‘mortar’?) point is unfortunately typically ‘western’ with a view of conflict as short and to-the-point.
~~~
The dumb ass ol’sonofabitch can’t spell so good,,,
Quit skrool and joined the Army at 17yo,,,
‘Nam 67-68,,,8/26 Arty.,,,IFFV,,,
Which war were you in?...
ROEs and other policies fly in the face of the claimed strategy
that’s it in a nutshell, the way I see it.....although the many red herrings get overplay sufficient to drown this crux out.....the well-intended support for the troops and mission is a bit misguided IMO without examining the above
Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.
“I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy”
There is no strategy. Obama has yet to publish a strategy for Afghanistan. Obama has yet to publish the National Security Strategy for the United States.
He has no clue.
“.....he could become a leading critic.”
___________________________________________________________
In other words, he would act like a democrat during the Bush presidency. Actually, the dems were misleading critics.
1/26th Inf, 1st Inf Div July67-68
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