US
Diplomat Resigns Over Afghan War
A
senior US diplomat in Afghanistan Mr.
Matthew Hoh has resigned his appointment, in protest at the war
against the Taliban.
A
newspaper report says the State
Department employee, posted to Zabul province, said he quit
because he had doubts about why the US was fighting.
He
becomes the first such person to resign,
the paper reported.
His resignation letter, written last month, prompted officials
to offer him alternative jobs, but he declined.
In
quotes published in the Washington Post, Mr. Hoh wrote to the US
state department personnel section: "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."
Intent
Mr
Hoh said he decided to speak out because he ’’wanted
people in Iowa, people in Arkansas, people in Arizona, to call
their congressman and say, 'Listen, I don't think this is
right.’’
To
prevent him leaving, officials were said to have offered Mr Hoh
a job in the US embassy in Kabul. He was also reported to have
been flown to Washington to meet the US special representative
for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, who initially
persuaded him to remain to influence policy from within rather
than outside government.
However, Mr. Hoh ultimately refused, and his resignation became
final in October.
He
said that the insurgency in some parts of Afghanistan arrived
only after the US troops did.
New Approach
The White House had said a decision on a new strategy for
Afghanistan, including troop numbers, will be made in the coming
weeks.
The top US military commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley
McChrystal, had also asked for at least 40,000 more
troops there.
Mr. Hoh suggested cutting combat troops; more support for
Pakistan; better US communication and propaganda skills to match
those of al-Qaeda; and more pressure on Afghan President Hamid
Karzai to clean up government corruption.
BBC/Yinka
