Ed Rollins:Those who quit to protest war
[Ed Rollins, a senior political contributor for CNN, is senior presidential fellow at the Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency at Hofstra University. He was White House political director for President Reagan and chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. ]
Matthew Hoh, a young man previously unknown to the general public, has become the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war. He was the senior U.S. civilian adviser in Zabul province, Afghanistan.
There certainly have been more famous resignations over a president's war policy. President Lyndon Johnson's first secretary of health, education and welfare and the architect of much of the civil rights and Great Society programs, John Gardner, resigned because he could not support the war in Vietnam and privately told the president he could not support him for re-election.
LBJ's Deputy Secretary of Defense Cyrus Vance resigned after becoming convinced the war in Vietnam, which he had strongly supported initially, was unwinnable. After his resignation he unsuccessfully urged Johnson not to bomb North Vietnam.
Vance later resigned as President Carter's secretary of state after arguing again unsuccessfully against "Operation Eagle Claw," the disastrous desert rescue attempt of our 52 hostages in Iran that cost the lives of eight American soldiers.
Our history is filled with brave men and women who have resigned because they could not support a policy or an administration, but it's never easy to quit and far more people carry on quietly and do what they perceive as their duty.
Many thought former Secretary of State Colin Powell should have resigned rather than testify before the U.N. on Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction, information he may have thought was suspect. There might not have been an Iraq war if he had done that.
But the resignation of Hoh, a former Marine captain and Iraq veteran from the Foreign Service, as reported Tuesday on the front page of the Washington Post may have more impact than the others.
His comments reflect the feelings of many of his countrymen who have far less knowledge of the Afghan situation then he does. The White House and State Department made every effort to keep Hoh from leaving and valued his service. He was exactly the kind of person we needed there if our Afghan efforts are to be successful...
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Matthew Hoh, a young man previously unknown to the general public, has become the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war. He was the senior U.S. civilian adviser in Zabul province, Afghanistan.
There certainly have been more famous resignations over a president's war policy. President Lyndon Johnson's first secretary of health, education and welfare and the architect of much of the civil rights and Great Society programs, John Gardner, resigned because he could not support the war in Vietnam and privately told the president he could not support him for re-election.
LBJ's Deputy Secretary of Defense Cyrus Vance resigned after becoming convinced the war in Vietnam, which he had strongly supported initially, was unwinnable. After his resignation he unsuccessfully urged Johnson not to bomb North Vietnam.
Vance later resigned as President Carter's secretary of state after arguing again unsuccessfully against "Operation Eagle Claw," the disastrous desert rescue attempt of our 52 hostages in Iran that cost the lives of eight American soldiers.
Our history is filled with brave men and women who have resigned because they could not support a policy or an administration, but it's never easy to quit and far more people carry on quietly and do what they perceive as their duty.
Many thought former Secretary of State Colin Powell should have resigned rather than testify before the U.N. on Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction, information he may have thought was suspect. There might not have been an Iraq war if he had done that.
But the resignation of Hoh, a former Marine captain and Iraq veteran from the Foreign Service, as reported Tuesday on the front page of the Washington Post may have more impact than the others.
His comments reflect the feelings of many of his countrymen who have far less knowledge of the Afghan situation then he does. The White House and State Department made every effort to keep Hoh from leaving and valued his service. He was exactly the kind of person we needed there if our Afghan efforts are to be successful...