BillTom,
I'm not so sure we disagree on your points, my disappointment is that no one addressed his points except RYNO, and he basically dismissed them without explaination. Is the issue Hoh quitting or his resignation letter? As you said, many folks are quitting, and some are only quitting because its hard, not because they disagree. Either way not a behavioral trait to encourage.
Perhaps not. My point is that quitting your job in the face of adversity makes your opinions on said job less than valuable to me, especially when you then try an apply them on a scale beyond their relevance. Doing that and then claiming an even larger purpose--as in the soldiers' lives as well as their families--is even worse.
I guess what bothers me the most is the idea that if this person can quit and then come across doing so as a responsible leader, what do we say to the squad leader, platoon leader, company commander who feels disenchanted? This to me is not the same as McMaster's book of the failure of senior leaders to stand up on Vietnam. Mr. Hoh was not serving as a general; he volunteered to take a political officer slot on a PRT, as indicated in subsequent reports on a contract.
I agree with you on the news media exploitation angle; that to me is pretty much a red herring. That is what the news media does and the only way to avoid it is not offer yourself up. The one area I see exploitation is the senior Foreign service officer angle; that too is something of a red herring because Mr. Hoh's resignation speaks to his appointment as a Political Officer in the Foriegn Service as well as the Senior Civilian Representative for the US Government in Zabul Province. If as he indicates he wants his 15 minutes to end, he could try getting off the stage.
Let me wrap up this spew with a final thought: it is difficult enough as a civilian who retired from the military to bond with the tribe on wartime deployment. The friction of them versus us never really goes away; trust, however, mitigates its worst effects. My brothers and sisters in uniform expect a certain level of partnership; they can't just quit when things get ####ty and neither should I.
Best
Tom
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