[Peace-discuss] Matthew Hoh's resignation & USG goals in AfPak

[E. Wayne Johnson]

Some say that the Obots have co-opted the anti-war movement.  Actually 
it seems to me that many of the anti-war Democrats were not really 
anti-war at all, but rather were just Bush-haters who backed Bill 
Clinton in his escapades of imperialism and now back Obama in his 
damn-near-identical-to-Bush-might-as-well-be-George-Bush extremes of 
imperialism and warmongering.


On 10/28/2009 10:17 AM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> What would we say of someone who opposed Germany's wars in the 1940s 
> because they wouldn't be effective in removing Jews and Communists 
> from Europe?
>
> Would that revolt be admirable?
>
>
> Morton K. Brussel wrote:
>> Hoh understands that the stated reasons for our wars are wrong and 
>> the methods used are futile and wasteful, but goes no further. You 
>> condemn him for that? His revolt is still admirable, despite what he 
>> leaves out,  since it might lead others to condemn our wars for the 
>> reasons he states, if not for your reasons.   --mkb
> >
>> On Oct 27, 2009, at 6:39 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>>
>>> I think people have to be taken at their word.  To do anything else 
>>> is a sign of contempt.  He says that he objects not to how we are 
>>> pursuing this war, but why.
>>>
>>> But we certainly should object to how we're pursuing the war, as the 
>>> dead children and destroyed families of civilians attest.  We treat 
>>> them like insects and don't notice when we step on them, because we 
>>> are in pursuit of higher goals -- deterring terrorism, as Obama says.
>>>
>>> There is nothing in his letter to suggest that Hoh has an answer to 
>>> why we are pursuing the war, even though he knows that that Obama's 
>>> justification -- "securing Afghanistan to prevent al-Qaeda 
>>> resurgence" -- is a lie.
>>>
>>> We need to condemn both what the Obama administration is doing, and 
>>> why. --CGE
>>>
>>>
>>> Morton K. Brussel wrote:
>>>> Wow! This is quite a statement, which you unfortunately depreciate, 
>>>> although
>>>> seeming to recognize its value.
>>>> You, in fact do not know whether Hoh understands or not the true 
>>>> reasons for
>>>> the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, etc. . He is content to "merely"
>>>> describe why he is resigning on a "practical" level—it seems to me. 
>>>> --mkb
>>>> On Oct 27, 2009, at 4:27 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>>>>> "Matthew Hoh, a former Marine officer, resigned from his current 
>>>>> State Department post in Afghanistan, saying he no longer believes 
>>>>> the war is
>>>>> worth American lives." [CSM]
>>>>> Hoh's letter of resignation is below.  He explains that he doesn't 
>>>>> understand or trust "the strategic purposes of the United States’ 
>>>>> presence
>>>>> in Afghanistan." His objections are not to "how we are pursuing 
>>>>> this war,
>>>>> but why."  But he doesn't suggest why.
>>>>> He knows that "our stated strategy of securing Afghanistan to 
>>>>> prevent al-Qaeda resurgence" is false, but he fails to see that 
>>>>> it's a necessary
>>>>> propaganda cover for the real geopolitical reasons that the US has 
>>>>> for
>>>>> dominating the region. (He does recognize that the propaganda 
>>>>> cover "would
>>>>> require us to additionally invade and occupy western Pakistan, 
>>>>> Somalia,
>>>>> Sudan, Yemen, etc." -- as we are doing, because the real reason 
>>>>> requires
>>>>> that, too.)
>>>>> For those real goals, the chosen means are appropriate -- vicious, 
>>>>> but appropriate.  And American planners understand what they're 
>>>>> doing. They
>>>>> should not so much be better informed as opposed.  --CGE
>>>>> ================ September 10, 2009
>>>>> Ambassador Nancy J. Powell Director General of the Foreign Service 
>>>>> and
>>>>> Director of Human Resources U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street 
>>>>> NW Washington, D.C. 20520
>>>>> Dear Ambassador Powell,
>>>>> It is with great regret and disappointment I submit my resignation 
>>>>> from my
>>>>> appointment as a Political Officer in the Foreign Service and my 
>>>>> post as
>>>>> the Senior Civilian Representative for the U.S. Government in Zabul
>>>>> Province. I have served six of the previous ten years in service 
>>>>> to our
>>>>> country overseas, to include deployment as a U.S. Marine ofticer and
>>>>> Department of Defense civilian in the Euphrates and Tigris River 
>>>>> Valleys of
>>>>> Iraq in 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. I did not enter into this 
>>>>> position lightly
>>>>> or with any undue expectations nor did I believe my assignment 
>>>>> would be
>>>>> without sacrifice hardship or difficulty. However, in the course 
>>>>> of my five
>>>>> months of service in Afghanistan, in both Regional Commands East 
>>>>> and South,
>>>>> I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic 
>>>>> purposes of
>>>>> the United States’ presence in Afghanistan. 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. To
>>>>> put simply: I fail to see the value or the worth in continued U.S.
>>>>> casualties or expenditures or resources in support of the Afghan 
>>>>> government
>>>>> in what is, truly, a 35-year old civil war.
>>>>> This fall will mark the eighth year of U.S. combat, governance and 
>>>>> development operations within Afghanistan. Next fall, the United 
>>>>> States’
>>>>> occupation will equal in length the Soviet Union’s own physical 
>>>>> involvement
>>>>> in Afghanistan. Like the Soviets, we continue to secure and bolster a
>>>>> failing state, while encouraging an ideology and system of government
>>>>> unknown and unwanted by its people.
>>>>> If the history or Afghanistan is one great stage play, the United 
>>>>> States is
>>>>> no more than a supporting actor, among several previously, in a 
>>>>> tragedy
>>>>> that not only pits tribes, valleys, clans, villages and families 
>>>>> against
>>>>> one another, but, from at least the end of King Zahir Shah’s 
>>>>> reign, has
>>>>> violently and savagely pitted the urban, secular, educated and 
>>>>> modem of
>>>>> Afghanistan against the rural, religious, illiterate and 
>>>>> traditional. It is
>>>>> this latter group that composes and supports the Pashtun 
>>>>> insurgency. The
>>>>> Pashtun insurgency, which is composed of multiple, seemingly 
>>>>> infinite,
>>>>> local groups, is fed by what is perceived by the Pashtun people as a
>>>>> continued and sustained assault, going back centuries, on Pashtun 
>>>>> land,
>>>>> culture, traditions and religion by internal and external enemies. 
>>>>> The U.S.
>>>>> and NATO presence and operations in Pashtun valleys and villages, 
>>>>> as well
>>>>> as Afghan army and police units that are led and composed of 
>>>>> non-Pashtun soldiers and police, provide an occupation force 
>>>>> against which the insurgency is justified. In both RC East and 
>>>>> South, I have observed that
>>>>> the bulk of the insurgency fights not for the white banner of the 
>>>>> Taliban,
>>>>> but rather against the presence of foreign soldiers and taxes 
>>>>> imposed by an
>>>>> unrepresentative government in Kabul.
>>>>> The United States military presence in Afghanistan greatly 
>>>>> contributes to
>>>>> the legitimacy and strategic message of the Pashtun insurgency. In 
>>>>> a like
>>>>> manner our backing of the Afghan government in its current form 
>>>>> continues
>>>>> to distance the government from the people. The Afghan government’s
>>>>> failings, particularly when weighed against the sacrifice of 
>>>>> American lives
>>>>> and dollars, appear legion and metastatic:
>>>>> • Glaring corruption and unabashed graft; • A President whose 
>>>>> confidants
>>>>> and chief advisers comprise drug lords and war crimes villains, 
>>>>> who mock
>>>>> our own rule of law and counternarcotics efforts; • A system of 
>>>>> provincial
>>>>> and district leaders constituted of local power brokers, 
>>>>> opportunists and
>>>>> strongmen allied to the United States solely for, and limited by, 
>>>>> the value
>>>>> of our USAID and CERP contracts and whose own political and economic
>>>>> interests stand nothing to gain from any positive or genuine 
>>>>> attempts at
>>>>> reconciliation; and • The recent election process dominated by 
>>>>> fraud and
>>>>> discredited by low voter turnout, which has created an enormous 
>>>>> victory for
>>>>> our enemy who now claims a popular boycott and will call into 
>>>>> question
>>>>> worldwide our government’s military, economic and diplomatic 
>>>>> support for an
>>>>> invalid and illegitimate Afghan government.
>>>>> Our support for this kind of government, coupled with a 
>>>>> misunderstanding of
>>>>> the insurgency’s true nature, reminds me horribly of our 
>>>>> involvement with
>>>>> South Vietnam; an unpopular and corrupt government we backed at 
>>>>> the expense
>>>>> of our Nation’s own internal peace, against an insurgency whose 
>>>>> nationalism
>>>>> we arrogantly and ignorantly mistook as a rival to our own Cold War
>>>>> ideology.
>>>>> I find specious the reasons we ask for bloodshed and sacrifice 
>>>>> from our
>>>>> young men and women in Afghanistan. If honest, our stated strategy of
>>>>> securing Afghanistan to prevent al-Qaeda resurgence or regrouping 
>>>>> would
>>>>> require us to additionally invade and occupy western Pakistan, 
>>>>> Somalia,
>>>>> Sudan, Yemen, etc. Our presence in Afghanistan has only increased
>>>>> destabilization and insurgency in Pakistan where we rightly fear a 
>>>>> toppled
>>>>> or weakened Pakistani government may lose control of nuclear weapons.
>>>>> However, again, to follow the logic of our stated goals we should 
>>>>> garrison
>>>>> Pakistan, not Afghanistan. More so, the September 11th attacks, as 
>>>>> well as
>>>>> the Madrid and London bombings, were primarily planned and 
>>>>> organized in
>>>>> Western Europe; a point that highlights the threat is not one tied to
>>>>> traditional geographic or political boundaries. Finally, if our 
>>>>> concern is
>>>>> for a failed state crippled by corruption and poverty and under 
>>>>> assault
>>>>> from criminal and drug lords, then if we bear our military and 
>>>>> financial
>>>>> contributions to Afghanistan, we must reevaluate our commitment to 
>>>>> and
>>>>> involvement in Mexico.
>>>>> Eight years into war, no nation has ever known a more dedicated, 
>>>>> well trained, experienced and disciplined military as the U.S. 
>>>>> Armed Forces. I
>>>>> do not believe any military force has ever been tasked with such a 
>>>>> complex,
>>>>> opaque and Sisyphean mission as the U.S. military has received in
>>>>> Afghanistan. The tactical proficiency and performance of our 
>>>>> Soldiers,
>>>>> Sailors, Airmen and Marines is unmatched and unquestioned. 
>>>>> However, this is
>>>>> not the European or Pacific theaters of World War II, but rather 
>>>>> is a war
>>>>> war for which our leaders, uniformed, civilian and elected, have
>>>>> inadequately prepared and resourced our men and women. Our forces, 
>>>>> devoted
>>>>> and faithful, have committed to conflict in an indefinite and 
>>>>> unplanned
>>>>> manner that has become a cavalier, politically expedient and 
>>>>> Pollyannaish misadventure. Similarly, the United States has a 
>>>>> dedicated and talented
>>>>> cadre of civilians, both U.S. government employees and 
>>>>> contractors, who
>>>>> believe in and sacrifice for their mission, but have been 
>>>>> ineffectually
>>>>> trained and led with guidance and intent shaped more by the political
>>>>> climate in Washington, D.C. than in Afghan cities, villages, 
>>>>> mountains and
>>>>> valleys.
>>>>> “We are spending ourselves into oblivion” a very talented and 
>>>>> intelligent
>>>>> commander, one of America’s best, briefs every visitor, staff 
>>>>> delegation
>>>>> and senior officer. We are mortgaging our Nation’s economy on a 
>>>>> war, which,
>>>>> even with increased commitment, will remain a draw for years to come.
>>>>> Success and victory, whatever they may be, will be realized not in 
>>>>> years,
>>>>> after billions more spent, but in decades and generations. The United
>>>>> States does not enjoy a national treasury for such success and 
>>>>> victory.
>>>>> I realize the emotion and tone of my letter and ask you excuse any 
>>>>> ill temper. I trust you understand the nature of this war and the 
>>>>> sacrifices
>>>>> made by so many thousands of families who have been separated from 
>>>>> loved
>>>>> ones deployed in defense of our Nation and whose homes bear the 
>>>>> fractures,
>>>>> upheavals and scars of multiple and compounded deployments. 
>>>>> Thousands of
>>>>> our men and women have returned home with physical and mental 
>>>>> wounds, some
>>>>> that will never heal or will only worsen with time. The dead 
>>>>> return only in
>>>>> bodily form to be received by families who must be reassured their 
>>>>> dead
>>>>> have sacrificed for a purpose worthy of futures lost, love 
>>>>> vanished, and
>>>>> promised dreams unkept. I have lost confidence such assurances can 
>>>>> anymore
>>>>> be made. As such, l submit my resignation.
>>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>> /s/ Matthew P. Hoh Senior Civilian Representative Zabul Province,
>>>>> Afghanistan
>>>>> cc: Mr. Frank Ruggiero Ms. Dawn Liberi Ambassador Anthony Wayne 
>>>>> Ambassador
>>>>> Karl Eikenberry
>>>>> http://warincontext.org/2009/10/27/a-letter-from-afghanistan-that-every-american-must-read/ 
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss 
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>>>> _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss 
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>>
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