Ex-diplomat says Afghanistan in ‘civil war,’ calls for US withdrawal

[unhappycamper]

Ex-diplomat says Afghanistan in ‘civil war,’ calls for US withdrawal
By David Edwards and Stephen Webster
Monday, November 2nd, 2009 -- 8:26 pm

When former U.S. diplomat to Afghanistan Matthew Hoh resigned on Sept. 10, 2009, he did so in a very public manner.

Now freed from the constraints of speaking on behalf of the United States government, he's taken to the media, spreading his view that America's involvement in Afghanistan is senseless and must soon end.

"I hit a point in my conscience where I just felt it was senseless, what was happening," he explained on a Monday broadcast of NBC's Today Show. "Our troops are fighting people who are fighting up because we're occupying them. ... What we are doing there doesn't attain any strategic value or any goals for the United States."

Interviewer Matt Lauer, paraphrasing Hoh's resignation letter (PDF link), said that America still views Afghanistan "through the lens of 9/11."

"And you say that the people we're fighting there, the insurgents, do not see it that way at all," Lauer continued. "They are not fighting to support the Taliban, the people who allowed violence to come to our shores. They're fighting for their individual communities and their valleys."


Rest of article at: http://rawstory.com/2009/11/hoh-afghanistan-civil-war/

[bemildred]

1. Yes, Karzai's "win" guarantees continued civil war.

Which is sort of the norm in Afghnaistan anyway, since the central government is a construct of outside forces.