{"id":55157,"date":"2025-09-18T13:53:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T21:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=55157"},"modified":"2025-09-18T13:53:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T21:53:56","slug":"matthew-hoh-featured-in-new-paramount-documentary-bodyguard-of-lies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2025\/09\/18\/matthew-hoh-featured-in-new-paramount-documentary-bodyguard-of-lies\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Hoh Featured in New Paramount+ Documentary <I>Bodyguard of Lies<\/I>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Reprinted with permission from <a href=\"https:\/\/matthewhoh.substack.com\/\">Matt\u2019s Thoughts on War and Peace<\/a>. Cross-posted by <a class=\"pencraft pc-reset decoration-hover-underline-ClDVRM reset-IxiVJZ\" href=\"https:\/\/eisenhowermedianetwork.substack.com\">Eisenhower Media Network<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-cP8Dk8GkUE?si=_lMJSzYS86fFZBnq\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Bodyguard of Lies<\/em>, featuring senior fellow Matthew Hoh, is an unflinching, unvarnished deep dive into the brutality of the Afghanistan War and the double-talk of U.S. politicians and military leaders.<\/p>\n<p>The documentary, produced in conjunction with <em>The Washington Post<\/em>, peels back the layers of deceit that the American public was fed over four different presidential administrations: George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.<\/p>\n<p>This official deceit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/graphics\/2019\/investigations\/afghanistan-papers\/documents-database\/\" rel=\"nofollow ugc noopener\">involved<\/a> having no clear strategy while simultaneously concealing uncomfortable truths about how the war was playing out on the ground. It was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/graphics\/2019\/investigations\/afghanistan-papers\/documents-database\/\" rel=\"nofollow ugc noopener\">grounded<\/a> in a deep ignorance of Afghanistan\u2019s culture and history, and a refusal to acknowledge that spending large sums of money in Afghanistan did not, in fact, improve the country or lead to any type of victory.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"imageGallery-npMLlr\" data-drag-handle=\"true\" data-component-name=\"ImageGallery\">\n<div class=\"pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-gap-8 pc-reset\">\n<div class=\"pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-gap-8 pc-reset\">\n<div class=\"pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset imageRow-_Y6x8T\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!x_6z!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7fa7a93f-53f9-4c6d-8c04-437c0eb72545_320x180.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!x_6z!,w_474,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7fa7a93f-53f9-4c6d-8c04-437c0eb72545_320x180.png 474w\" type=\"image\/webp\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-OACg1c image-IE_pDY small-AA4Dt8 zoom-YdDT6p pencraft pc-reset pressable-lg-kV7yq8 pencraft pc-reset\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!x_6z!,w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7fa7a93f-53f9-4c6d-8c04-437c0eb72545_320x180.png\" sizes=\"100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!x_6z!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7fa7a93f-53f9-4c6d-8c04-437c0eb72545_320x180.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!x_6z!,w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7fa7a93f-53f9-4c6d-8c04-437c0eb72545_320x180.png 474w\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" \/><\/picture><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!opOq!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6172cb96-333d-4c64-983b-8b8b60a16739_320x180.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!opOq!,w_474,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6172cb96-333d-4c64-983b-8b8b60a16739_320x180.png 474w\" type=\"image\/webp\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-OACg1c image-IE_pDY small-AA4Dt8 zoom-YdDT6p pencraft pc-reset pressable-lg-kV7yq8 pencraft pc-reset\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!opOq!,w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6172cb96-333d-4c64-983b-8b8b60a16739_320x180.png\" sizes=\"100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!opOq!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6172cb96-333d-4c64-983b-8b8b60a16739_320x180.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!opOq!,w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6172cb96-333d-4c64-983b-8b8b60a16739_320x180.png 474w\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" \/><\/picture><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!xncS!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F14e54dd3-7970-4e6b-96ea-d74af5ff1e1d_320x180.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!xncS!,w_474,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F14e54dd3-7970-4e6b-96ea-d74af5ff1e1d_320x180.jpeg 474w\" type=\"image\/webp\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-OACg1c image-IE_pDY small-AA4Dt8 zoom-YdDT6p pencraft pc-reset pressable-lg-kV7yq8 pencraft pc-reset\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!xncS!,w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F14e54dd3-7970-4e6b-96ea-d74af5ff1e1d_320x180.jpeg\" sizes=\"100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!xncS!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F14e54dd3-7970-4e6b-96ea-d74af5ff1e1d_320x180.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!xncS!,w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F14e54dd3-7970-4e6b-96ea-d74af5ff1e1d_320x180.jpeg 474w\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset imageRow-_Y6x8T\">\n<picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!juik!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32ddc7dd-013d-49f8-bbaf-fd3196a77359_320x180.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!juik!,w_474,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32ddc7dd-013d-49f8-bbaf-fd3196a77359_320x180.jpeg 474w\" type=\"image\/webp\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-OACg1c image-IE_pDY small-AA4Dt8 zoom-YdDT6p pencraft pc-reset pressable-lg-kV7yq8 pencraft pc-reset\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!juik!,w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32ddc7dd-013d-49f8-bbaf-fd3196a77359_320x180.jpeg\" sizes=\"100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!juik!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32ddc7dd-013d-49f8-bbaf-fd3196a77359_320x180.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!juik!,w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32ddc7dd-013d-49f8-bbaf-fd3196a77359_320x180.jpeg 474w\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" \/><\/picture><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!M8h3!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ca303a4-cbb6-4b74-bb1b-00d0445b51d4_320x180.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!M8h3!,w_474,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ca303a4-cbb6-4b74-bb1b-00d0445b51d4_320x180.jpeg 474w\" type=\"image\/webp\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-OACg1c image-IE_pDY small-AA4Dt8 zoom-YdDT6p pencraft pc-reset pressable-lg-kV7yq8 pencraft pc-reset\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!M8h3!,w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ca303a4-cbb6-4b74-bb1b-00d0445b51d4_320x180.jpeg\" sizes=\"100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!M8h3!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ca303a4-cbb6-4b74-bb1b-00d0445b51d4_320x180.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!M8h3!,w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ca303a4-cbb6-4b74-bb1b-00d0445b51d4_320x180.jpeg 474w\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" \/><\/picture><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!6nQI!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F003ed6f1-57bf-4df9-8c23-8d16424e686a_320x180.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!6nQI!,w_474,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F003ed6f1-57bf-4df9-8c23-8d16424e686a_320x180.jpeg 474w\" type=\"image\/webp\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><\/picture>\n<div style=\"width: 484px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-OACg1c image-IE_pDY small-AA4Dt8 zoom-YdDT6p pencraft pc-reset pressable-lg-kV7yq8 pencraft pc-reset\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!6nQI!,w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F003ed6f1-57bf-4df9-8c23-8d16424e686a_320x180.jpeg\" sizes=\"100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!6nQI!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F003ed6f1-57bf-4df9-8c23-8d16424e686a_320x180.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!6nQI!,w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F003ed6f1-57bf-4df9-8c23-8d16424e686a_320x180.jpeg 474w\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" height=\"204\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stills from Bodyguard Of Lies, streaming on Paramount+, 2025. Photo Credit: CBS \/ Paramount+<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"imageCaption-iHC8xR\"><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hoh worked for the U.S. State Department in Afghanistan. In 2009, he resigned in protest over the continued escalation of the war. He became a whistleblower, only to be met with threats and pushback from the Pentagon.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">\n<blockquote><p><em><strong>\u201cThey didn\u2019t care what the reality of this war was. They cared about whether or not their narrative was going to be upset by someone speaking to the press.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The bipartisan deceit came at great cost: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/hanktucker\/2021\/08\/16\/the-war-in-afghanistan-cost-america-300-million-per-day-for-20-years-with-big-bills-yet-to-come\/\" rel=\"nofollow ugc noopener\">$300 million per day<\/a>; hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded <a href=\"https:\/\/costsofwar.watson.brown.edu\/costs\/human\/civilians-killed-displaced\" rel=\"nofollow ugc noopener\">Afghans<\/a>; thousands of dead and wounded <a href=\"https:\/\/costsofwar.watson.brown.edu\/costs\/human\/us-military-veterans-contractors-allies\" rel=\"nofollow ugc noopener\">U.S. troops and contractors<\/a>; and an Afghanistan ultimately <a href=\"https:\/\/costsofwar.watson.brown.edu\/paper\/afghanistan-and-after-20-years-war-2001-2021\" rel=\"nofollow ugc noopener\">worse off<\/a> than before the U.S. military occupation began in 2001.<\/p>\n<p>Most money for the U.S. reconstruction of Afghanistan went right back into U.S. corporations. Georgetown Professor C. Christine Fair <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2021\/08\/16\/pakistan-united-states-afghanistan-taliban\/\" rel=\"nofollow ugc noopener\">explained<\/a> in 2021 that \u201cbetween 80 and 90 percent of outlays actually returned to the U.S. economy. Of the 10 to 20 percent of the contracts that remained in the country, the United States rarely cared about the efficacy of the initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The top five U.S.-based war corporations <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stephensemler.com\/p\/the-top-5-military-contractors-ate\" rel=\"nofollow ugc noopener\">received<\/a> $2 trillion in federal contracts during the Afghanistan war.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Bodyguard of Lies<\/strong><\/em><strong> premieres on the Paramount+ streaming service on September 23.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>Matthew Hoh is the Associate Director of the Eisenhower Media Network. Matt is a former Marine Corps captain, Afghanistan State Department officer, a disabled Iraq War veteran and is a Senior Fellow Emeritus with the Center for International Policy. <\/i><em><a href=\"https:\/\/matthewhoh.substack.com\">He writes at Substack.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reprinted with permission from Matt\u2019s Thoughts on War and Peace. Cross-posted by Eisenhower Media Network. Bodyguard of Lies, featuring senior fellow Matthew Hoh, is an unflinching, unvarnished deep dive into the brutality of the Afghanistan War and the double-talk of U.S. politicians and military leaders. The documentary, produced in conjunction with The Washington Post, peels [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":343,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[749],"class_list":["post-55157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"0","custom_donate_message":"","subtitle":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/343"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55157"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55161,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55157\/revisions\/55161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55157"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=55157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}