The Washington Post reports: “Obama’s 7 State of the Union talking points. No. 5: Ending the war in Afghanistan.”

MATTHEW HOH, mphoh1 at yahoo.com
Available for a limited number of interviews, Hoh is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and is the former director of the Afghanistan Study Group. A former Marine and State Department official, Hoh resigned in protest from his post with the State Department in Afghanistan over U.S. strategic policy and goals in Afghanistan in 2009. He said today: “Regardless of what the U.S. does in Afghanistan, the war is not going to end for the Afghan people. They will continue to die and suffer. Just as in Iraq, the U.S., by surging in both countries, was able to make a big show of commitment and resolve, in order to claim victory, but in reality only creating the conditions for American withdrawal, without accomplishing any political goals or objectives to achieve lasting peace or stability in both countries.

“Secondly, there is almost no discussion of what a failure Obama’s escalation of the war in Afghanistan has been. Since he took office, violence in Afghanistan has worsened, corruption has greatly deepened, the opium trade has blossomed, both national elections have been massively fraudulent, and, militarily, we have not defeated the insurgency, rather the presence of more foreign troops and money has actually strengthened the Taliban. All this while Al Qaeda had long since departed Afghanistan by 2009, and the Taliban, or at least major elements of them, were willing to negotiate prior to our escalation of the war and our declaration of no negotiations and military victory.

“More importantly than Obama’s legacy, America’s legacy in both Afghanistan and Iraq will be a legacy of shame, hubris and horror.”