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US diplomat resigns over Afghan war

28 October 2009 09:44 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. An American diplomat resigned over the war in Afghanistan. Matthew Hoh, a political officer of the US embassy and senior civilian officer in Zabul province of Afghanistan, said he resigned in a protest against US policy toward Afghanistan, APA reports quoting the world news agencies.
36-year old Matthew Hoh spent six years in Iraq, where he served as a Marine Corps captain and then worked as a civilian for the Department of Defense. He took the diplomatic post early this year and was sent to Afghanistan in July. Hoh submitted his letter of resignation on September 10.
Hohâ€™s four-page letter shocked the Americans. â€œI feel that our strategies in Afghanistan are not pursing goals and I have doubts about our current strategy and planned future strategy there. I believe that the people we are fighting there are fighting us because we are occupying them -- not for any ideological reasons, not because of any links to al Qaeda, not because of any fundamental hatred toward the West. The only reason they’re fighting us is because we are occupying themâ€.
The US administration offered him a high post at the embassy, but Hoh declined it. Richard Holbrooke, the US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan also couldnâ€™t talk Hoh out of resigning.