The First US Official to Resign Over Afghanistan Is Fighting to Help Whistleblowers [View all]

[jakeXT]

It's five years since Matthew Hoh became the first US official to resign in protest over the government's handling of the Afghanistan war, resulting in a PR disaster for the US government.

"After I resigned, I was in a bar and it just so happened that I was sitting next to an editor from the Washington Post. We got talking and he told me to call the foreign affairs desk the next day." He did and a few hours later, Post journalist Karen DeYoung was on the phone. They spoke for six hours and within days, his resignation letter was on the front page.

In the letter, Hoh explained he had lost confidence in the tactics being used in the conflict, and that he had no idea why it was going on. He wrote, "My resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end."

Today, sitting in his hotel room in central London, wearing a War Resisters International badge and with leather elbow patches sown onto his jacket, he admits he is surprised by his journey from Marine Corps captain to peace activist. "I never planned any of this," he says. "In a year I went from thinking I would have 35 years in the government before getting a PhD and teaching at a small college somewhere to saying, 'Fuck you, I am not doing this anymore. It's wrong.'"


http://www.vice.com/read/whistleblower-matthew-hoh-interview-198