The Other Perspective

So I am in the midst.. really the heart.. of writing my dissertation (as they call it here).
It is really coming along and I think I am well beyond my half-way point which is very exciting.
Writing on Afghanistan is difficult, though, because of how current it is and how things keep changing on the ground.
I tried to manage this by focusing in on the civil-military partnership in Afghanistan which, although not static, has followed a relatively consistent trend over the past eight years, or at least until the McChrystal Assessment last fall which actually doubled the number of civilians on the ground. ("Doubled" may be misleading. That means, 500 - 1,000 which is actually still nothing in a country of 32 million).

My paper, in an attempt also to keep it focused, has accepted the policy in Afghanistan as it is and does not attempt to critique whether or not we SHOULD be there per se, but rather if what we are doing there in terms of Civil-Military work really transcends the unique, non-linear nature of the war.

Talking to a friend of mine the other day who also happens to be a Marine, he brought my attention to a story from last fall when a former Marine, and then later Foreign Service Officer, resigned in protest to the war. In a lot of ways Matt Hoh was the ideal man for Afghanistan; he had been in the military and then civil service, and thus brought both perspectives to his work. His assessment of what was taking place, however, was not quite what Washington had maybe hoped for. Although perhaps a bit of a bleak outlook on Afghanistan, reading this letter was one of those moments in my research where I just felt physically stopped. It is not easy to read, and in a lot of ways I wish and hope that he is wrong. At the same time, he so simply yet articulately states his perception of what is going on on the ground, that on a lot of levels it all seems crystal clear.
Regardless of your opinion on the subject, its worth a read.