Free Republic

At first, Matthew Hoh didn’t think he was doing anything that consequential — maybe he’d attract some attention for the first day or two before becoming, as he puts it, a “footnote.” But since news broke, a little less than a month ago, of his resignation from the State Department over the US war in Afghanistan — he is the first US official to publicly quit in protest — Hoh has swiftly become an influential voice, both within and outside the government. The timing of his resignation, dated Sept. 10, 2009, was fortuitous, he says: “People want to understand this.”...

A key U.S. official in Afghanistan has resigned in protest over U.S. policy in the war-torn region, as the Obama administration deliberates its future strategy there. Matthew Hoh, a political officer in the foreign service and a senior civilian officer in Zabul, Afghanistan, wrote a four-page letter to Ambassador Nancy Powell, director general of the foreign service at the State Department, to express his "doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy," as first reported by the Washington Post today. Today, Hoh told reporters he submitted his letter of resignation on Sept. 10 because he doesn't agree...

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. "I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the...

WASHINGTON -- A former Marine who fought in Iraq, joined the State Department after leaving the military and was a diplomat in a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan has become the first U.S. official to resign in protest of the Afghan war, the Washington Post reported early Tuesday. Matthew Hoh, who describes himself as "not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love," said he believes the war is simply fueling the insurgency. "I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan," Hoh wrote in his resignation letter, dated...

After laying siege to a house for five hours, police gave a final warning before storming the house where a gunman had been reported inside. A police dog rushed upstairs and, finding a woman in bed, proceeded to sink its teeth into her arms. But as armed officers surrounded a terrified Sonia Pellow, they realised two things. First, she wasn't a gunman. Second, she was deaf and had been sleeping throughout the entire stand-off. Yesterday Miss Pellow, 36, was still too afraid to return to her home in Hayle, Cornwall, after the ordeal, which followed a hoax call to police...

The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act reflected a generous national impulse to provide the most opportunity... But the law has also sometimes led to overzealous interpretations ...that can defy common sense -- and endanger the broader public. A case in point is last week's ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that United Parcel Service has violated federal law by banning drivers who are deaf. While acknowledging that federal law requires drivers of trucks heavier than 10,000 pounds to be able to hear, a three-judge panel of the ...court ruled that UPS was obliged to prove that allowing the...

Emory Dively is seeking to be the Republican Endorsed Candidate for the House of Representatives for District 64B. He is the Pastor of Twin Cities Deaf Assemblies of God and serves on numerous organizations throughout the country. Emory has a unique background. He was born Deaf in Flint, Michigan and attended the state school for the deaf. Following the state school for the Deaf, Emory went to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (a part of R.I.T.) in New York where he earned his Bachelor's Degree in Social Working. He went on to graduate with a Master's Degree from...