Bouhammer's Military Blog

A blog about Military Issues, Afghanistan, and everything in between

Monthly Archives: October 2009

A big mistake yet again

There is a well-known saying in Afghanistan: “You can rent an Afghan, but you can’t buy him.”

Yeah I have said that on here several times. It is a very common saying, and even though this may be true in Afghanistan, it does not mean we should be doing it.

The bill includes a Taliban reintegration provision under the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, which is now receiving $1.3 billion. CERP funding also is intended for humanitarian relief and reconstruction projects at commanders’ discretion. The buyout idea, according to the Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is to separate local Taliban from their leaders, replicating a program used to neutralize the insurgency against Americans in Iraq.

I have also said on this blog more times than I can remember that Afghanistan is not Iraq. Wasting our money renting the temporary loyalty of the Afghan man is a complete waste of money and resources that our country cannot afford to waste. This loyalty will only last as long as the money does and then the Afghan man will go back to giving his loyalty to the Taliban by virtue of being paid off or having his or his families’ lives threatened.

Even Nicholas Schmidle sees the fault in this mindset.

“So long as the Americans are keenly aware of this, you’re buying a very, very, very temporary allegiance,” he said. “If that’s the foundation for moving forward, it’s a shaky foundation.”

www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/28/afghanistan.taliban.pay/index.html



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Deadliest Month…Again

It is really getting old to keep typing the same posts every month or two about how a new record has been set about it being the deadliest month. August was really bad, but October has gotten much worse and the month is not even over yet. Of course this should come as no surprise. We are actively going after an enemy with more vigor and more troops than ever before during the time that they tend to try and do as much damage as possible before retreating back across the mountains of Pakistan for the winter.

October and even November in some places are worse in combat action than the summer months. The fair-weather fighters that normally face off against the coalition don’t like to fight in the cold, and have a hard time with their motorcycles trying to escape in the snow-filled wadis. So they like to go out with a bang and leave an impression that they hope carries the fear amongst the people over the winter months. Of course they still attack with the random suicide bomber or car bomb just to remind all they are still around.

I know there is a lot being said about the President’s inability to make a decision on if he should surge or not. I don’t know how much he has to see in order to make a decision, but I wish he would hurry up and be the Commander-in-Chief he is charged to be. The reality is that these deaths would have not have been avoided even if he had made the decision back on August 29th when GEN McChrystal sent it. It takes time to ramp up the troops, move them and logistics, etc. Heck, there probably is not even space anywhere, on any FOB in Afghanistan to take tens of thousands of more troops right now. All of that infrastructure has to be put into place.

Since this is an asymmetrical fight, there are no forward or rear lines. This means they can’t simply drop the troops in the desert and say live here. As the threat is 360 degrees. Hence why we live on FOBs with 360 degree security.

Of course this does not excuse the President from making a decision, but I want to be fair here and say I am not blaming his inability to decide and act like a leader for the loss of all these brave souls right now. However there will be a point in time around January or February that if troops are not in place we can put the blame on this stall in the decision-making process.



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New ETT Team T-shirt Design available for pre-order

I am excited to announce another addition to the Bouhammer Gear Store. This design was done by members of the ETT team that were in Gulistan, Afghanistan from 2007-2008 and the actual graphics work man-hours were donated by Solari Creative.

The design was created by the team and for the team, but they wanted to open it up to anyone who may like it. Since they are not looking to make any money, the team is donating 100% of any proceeds from the sale of the T-shirt to the Wounded Warrior Project. This shirt is located on one of my T-shirt partner sites, www.military-ink.com. You can get to it by clicking HERE. The shipping is only $3.35 and the T-shirt only cost $19.95.

ETT_Rogue_back
A Zoomed in view of the graphic is below;
ETT Rogue logo

What the graphic says is “ETT Rogue 1-2, Gulistan Afghanistan, Dropping Bombs with a Smile”.

This design is in a special PRE-ORDER timeframe until Veteran’s Day, November 11th, 2009. After that day, then all the shirts will start getting produced.

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MAKING EVEN MORE MILITARY WISHES COME TRUE

**BOUHAMMER NOTE**- We will have Mr. Tom Aiello from Sears Heroes at Home Program on You Served Radio this Thursday starting at 7PM EST. You can listen live Thursday night from 7-9PM EST at www.blogtalkradio.com/youserved

!!!MEDIA ADVISORY!!!
MAKING EVEN MORE MILITARY WISHES COME TRUE
Overwhelming interest inspires Sears to extend the
Heroes at Home Wish Registry deadline

 
WHO:  Sears is pleased to announce that due to overwhelming interest in the Heroes at Home(sm) Wish Registry they have extended the deadline for military families to participate so that even more wishes can be fulfilled this holiday season.
 
Eligible military members and their families can register for the Sears Heroes at Home Wish Registry by visiting www.sears.com/wish. To be eligible for the program, a member of the family must be serving on active duty.
 
WHAT:  The Heroes at Home Wish Registry, one of a number of Sears Holdings’ programs supporting the military and their families, enables Sears’ customers to thank America’s military heroes for the sacrifices they make for our country. Through the Heroes at Home Wish Registry, Sears continues its long-standing tradition of support of the military, and especially their families, whose sacrifices also deserve much recognition and reward.                     
 
WHERE:  Eligible military members and families can visit www.sears.com/wish and register for the program. 
 
Registration is first come first serve, and opened at 6:00 a.m./CT on Thursday, Oct. 22.
 
Between Nov. 2 and Dec. 31, 2009, Sears will invite America to donate to the Heroes at Home Wish Registry which will provide military families with a Sears gift card.
 
WHY:  The Heroes at Home program provides support to service members, veterans and their families. Sears Holdings spearheaded nationwide fundraising efforts over the past year and has raised more than $16 million through Heroes at Home for several military programs. Heroes at Home has helped hundreds of military families across America and the Wish Registry continues Sears Holdings’ support of the men and women who serve our country. 
 
CONTACT:  To find out more about Sears’ Heroes at Home Wish Registry, visit www.sears.com/wish.  For more information on the Wish Registry please contact Carolyn Goldberg (carolyn.goldgber@eurorscg.com) or 212-367-6947.

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