Why Are We In Afghanistan?

Is the question President Obama needs to ask himself, in good conscience, and to answer before committing more troops to the conflict. The President has not rushed into any decision yet, and he is unlikely to do so until the results of the elections second round, scheduled to take place on November 7. The Obama administration seems divided on the issue of the war strategy.

On one hand, Vice President Biden and Senator Kerry appear to want to put a break on additional troops and focus instead on counter-terrorism  operations. A few days ago, during an interview with CNN, Senator Kerry said he saw hate in the eyes of Afghans while he was visiting the country to make an assessment of the situation. On the other hand Secretary of State Clinton, Secretary of Defense Gates and of course General McChrystal are all in favor of sending more troops. General McChrystal is requesting an additional 40,000 troops, and is a proponent of  “hold and stay”. In other words General McChrystal wants to focus on nation building.

A new assessment of the Afghan quagmire has emerged, and is getting a lot of press attention. It is coming from a former Marine Captain who became the first foreign service official to resign in protest of the war in Afghanistan. His name is Matthew Hoh, and he doesn’t think anyone has an answer to justify the US and NATO presence in Afghanistan. Further, Hoh says that staying in the country is not in America’s interest.

Matthew Hoh is doing the press round after making public, via the Washington Post, his letter of resignation from the State Department.

“The losses of our soldiers do not merit anything that comes in line with our strategic interests or values. I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purpose of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan. I prefer to keep talking about:Is it even worth winning? Is it worth losing more lives? And is it worth spending billions of dollars that, frankly, this country does not have? The idea that we should continue fighting there just because we have been fighting there for the last eight years I think is completely irrational,” Matthew Hoh told NPR’s Melissa Block in an interview yesterday.

On another note, a new radio station for British and US soldiers in Afghanistan was launched a few days ago. The host kicks off the show by a cheerful & obnoxious :Gooood Morning Afghanistan! This is exactly how a famous radio show kicked off decades ago in Vietnam. Is this irony or just a Freudian slip? Regardless, Afghanistan is looking more and more like Vietnam, and it seems that  former Marine Captain Matthew Hoh could start filling the shoes of  a young John Kerry in his opposition to the war.

To read former Marine Captain Hoh’s resignation letter click here.