Foreign Service officer and former Marine captain says he no longer knows why his nation is fighting
by Karen DeYoung, The Washington Post, October 27, 2009
When Matthew Hoh joined the Foreign Service early this year, he was exactly the kind of smart civil-military hybrid the administration was looking for to help expand its development efforts in Afghanistan.
![[Matthew Hoh was asked to stay in the job. (Gerald Martineau - The Washington Post) ]](https://i0.wp.com/www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/Hoh_resignation.jpg)
Matthew Hoh was asked to stay in the job. (Gerald Martineau – The Washington Post)
A former Marine Corps captain with combat experience in Iraq, Hoh had also served in uniform at the Pentagon, and as a civilian in Iraq and at the State Department. By July, he was the senior U.S. civilian in Zabul province, a Taliban hotbed.
But last month, in a move that has sent ripples all the way to the White House, Hoh, 36, became the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war, which he had come to believe simply fueled the insurgency.
Peace and Justice Post 
Under Obama, more targeted killings than captures in counterterrorism efforts
February 15, 2010By Karen DeYoung and Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Washington Post, February 14, 2010
When a window of opportunity opened to strike the leader of al-Qaeda in East Africa last September, U.S. Special Operations forces prepared several options. They could obliterate his vehicle with an airstrike as he drove through southern Somalia. Or they could fire from helicopters that could land at the scene to confirm the kill. Or they could try to take him alive.
The White House authorized the second option. On the morning of Sept. 14, helicopters flying from a U.S. ship off the Somali coast blew up a car carrying Saleh Ali Nabhan. While several hovered overhead, one set down long enough for troops to scoop up enough of the remains for DNA verification. Moments later, the helicopters were headed back to the ship.
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Tags:Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Bagram prison, CIA, Joby Warrick, Karen DeYoung, Obama, Pakistani govt and drone attacks, Somalia, targeted killings and no detentions
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