This article at crooksandliars tells of the resignation 09/10/2009 of Matthew P. Hoh, Senior Civilian Representative, Zabul Province, Afghanistan and the tremendous ripple-effect his action has caused all the way to DC.

Matthew is not just some desk-jockey. He was a Marine Captain who served two hitches in the current war in Iraq. He knows war. He writes from experience, IMO the most valuable kind of education and learning. Matthew’s resignation letter may be the most honest intelligence estimate we are likely to ever get about the true conditions in Afghanistan and the effects of our military occupation.

In his 4-page letter letter of resignation (pdf) linked in the C&L piece, his dedication, sincerity, and inner struggles clearly come through. As I read it, I wondered for just how many of our war-weary young soldiers is he speaking?

Here is an excerpt from www.crooksandliars.com I recommend reading the full article and most of all, Matthew’s letter.

(I)n a move that has sent ripples all the way to the White House, (former Marine Corps Captain Matthew) 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.

“I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan,” he wrote Sept. 10 in a four-page letter to the department’s head of personnel. “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.”

I wish you safe home, Matthew P. Hoh, and thank you for your service and true dedication to honorable action, even when the costs to you are so high.