"I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan..."

A U.S. Foreign Service officer and Iraq combat veteran quits over the ongoing American military presence in Afghanistan, which he says he merely aiding the insurgency:

When Matthew Hoh joined the Foreign Service early this year, he was exactly the kind of smart civil-military hybrid the administration was looking for to help expand its development efforts in Afghanistan.

A former Marine Corps captain with combat experience in Iraq, Hoh had also served in uniform at the Pentagon, and as a civilian in Iraq and at the State Department. By July, he was the senior U.S. civilian in Zabul province, a Taliban hotbed.

But last month, in a move that has sent ripples all the way to the White House, Hoh, 36, became the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war, which he had come to believe simply fueled the insurgency.

We need a few dozen more Matthew Hohs, before it's too late.