As US President Barack Obama ponders his options in what has become widely known as “Obama’s War” in Afghanistan, the resignation of a mid-level civilian official in Kabul has complicated the president’s choices, while a recent poll of Afghans lends a glimmer of optimism.
Matthew Hoh, a 36-year-old former Marine who headed a small provincial reconstruction team, has resigned because “I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan.”
In his letter of resignation to Nancy Powell, the Director-General of the Foreign Service, Hoh wrote that “I fail to see the value or the worth in continued US casualties or expenditures of resources in support of the Afghan government in what is, truly, a 35-year old civil war.”
He noted that next fall, the “United States’ occupation” will equal that of the Soviet Union’s failed effort that began in 1979.
“Like the Soviets,” Hoh said, “we continue to secure and bolster a failing state, while encouraging an ideology and system of government unknown and unwanted by its people.”
Ordinarily, the resignation of a middle ranking official doesn’t cause much of a stir. In this case, however, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, head of the US mission in Kabul, and Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administration’s special envoy on Pakistan and Afghanistan, both sought to dissuade Hoh from leaving. He was to see US Vice President Joseph Biden’s foreign policy adviser, Antony Blinken, this weekend.
Moreover, Hoh’s letter was leaked to the press, by whom and for what purpose is not clear. Hoh dated his letter Sept. 11, the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington in 2001, but it didn’t show up in public until the Washington Post printed a front page story last Tuesday. That was quickly followed by articles in other papers, reports on TV news, an interview on the PBS News Hour, and numerous Internet blogs. Hoh’s questioning of the US military presence in Afghanistan came as US deaths there mounted to a monthly record of 55 as the end of last month approached. The US has deployed 68,000 men and women of all services in Afghanistan.
The former Marine, who fought in Iraq, ticked off a litany of ills he alleged in Afghanistan, including “glaring corruption and unabashed graft,” a president affiliated with drug lords and criminals, provincial leaders who are power brokers and opportunists, and the recent elections “dominated by fraud and discredited by low voter turnout.”
Hoh said: “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.”
In some contrast to Hoh’s gloomy outlook, the results of a recent poll of Afghans released this week by the Asia Foundation, the non-governmental organization promoting development in Asia, produced a flicker of light. The survey found that 42 percent feel the country is moving in the right direction, up from 38 percent last year, but well below the 64 percent five years ago.
The reason for optimism was improved security, noted by 44 percent compared with 31 percent in 2006. Respondents also mentioned rebuilding and opening of schools for girls. The lack of security, however, generated pessimism even though that was cited by 42 percent, down from 50 percent last year.
Of the respondents, 51 percent said “they fear for their personal safety.” Of them, 17 percent said “they or someone in their family have been victims of violence or crime in the past year.” Nearly one in 10 victims said this was because of militias, insurgents or foreign forces.
Which was not unlike Hoh’s point.
Richard Halloran is a freelance writer in Hawaii.
The first Donald Trump term was a boon for Taiwan. The administration regularized the arms sales process and enhanced bilateral ties. Taipei will not be so fortunate the second time around. Given recent events, Taiwan must proceed with the assumption that it cannot count on the United States to defend it — diplomatically or militarily — during the next four years. Early indications suggested otherwise. The nomination of Marco Rubio as US Secretary of State and the appointment of Mike Waltz as the national security advisor, both of whom have expressed full-throated support for Taiwan in the past, raised hopes that
Whether in terms of market commonality or resource similarity, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co is the biggest competitor of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). The two companies have agreed to set up factories in the US and are also recipients of subsidies from the US CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law by former US president Joe Biden. However, changes in the market competitiveness of the two companies clearly reveal the context behind TSMC’s investments in the US. As US semiconductor giant Intel Corp has faced continuous delays developing its advanced processes, the world’s two major wafer foundries, TSMC and
Authorities last week revoked the residency permit of a Chinese social media influencer surnamed Liu (劉), better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), who has more than 440,000 followers online and is living in Taiwan with a marriage-based residency permit, for her “reunification by force” comments. She was asked to leave the country in 10 days. The National Immigration Agency (NIA) on Tuesday last week announced the decision, citing the influencer’s several controversial public comments, including saying that “China does not need any other reason to reunify Taiwan with force” and “why is it [China] hesitant
We are witnessing a sea change in the government’s approach to China, from one of reasonable, low-key reluctance at rocking the boat to a collapse of pretense over and patience in Beijing’s willful intransigence. Finally, we are seeing a more common sense approach in the face of active shows of hostility from a foreign power. According to Article 2 of the 2020 Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), a “foreign hostile force” is defined as “countries, political entities or groups that are at war with or are engaged in a military standoff with the Republic of China [ROC]. The same stipulation applies to
RSS