Matthew Hoh did a Washington Post Q-n-A. He takes a lot of critiques of his let’s-get-out-of-Afghanistan position, which I don’t endorse, and answers them intelligently and honestly. We should all be able to argue as respectfully as this.

This, however, struck me as a wise thing to say.

Washington, D.C.: Not worth the fight? Have you forgotten about 9/11 and the failed state that existed before we entered Afghanistan? Do you want to give all we have accomplished, removing the Taliban from power, taking away al-Qaeda’s safe haven, making it possible for women to get an education, etc., back to the Muslim extremists? Isn’t that letting them win?

Matthew Hoh: I disagree and I think it is emotional arguments like this that keep us tied to Afghanistan and to a policy that fuels the insurgency as well as adds credence to calls for global Islamic jihad. 9/11 was a tragedy for this country and we cannot let another event like that happen, particularly as we have still not recovered from the emotional shock of the event 8 years later. Additionally, events like 9/11 cause tremendous shock to world financial markets, something we cannot allow to occur, especially at this point in time. However, since 9/11 al-Qaeda has evolved and no longer will tie itself to a political state or geographical boundaries.

9/11 is, of course, the reason we care about al-Qaeda. But it cannot and must not be used as an excuse for abandoning critical thinking. A superman, that Hoh.