U.S. military in Iraq feels gouge of fuel costs

[RamboLiberal]

Source: MSNBC/AP

Think you're being gouged by Big Oil? U.S. troops in Iraq are paying almost as much as Americans back home, despite burning fuel at staggering rates in a war to stabilize a country known for its oil reserves.

Military units pay an average of $3.23 a gallon for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, some $88 a day per service member in Iraq, according to an Associated Press review and interviews with defense officials. A penny or two increase in the price of fuel can add millions of dollars to U.S. costs.

Critics in Congress are fuming. The U.S., they say, is getting suckered as the cost of the war exceeds half a trillion dollars — $10.3 billion a month, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Some lawmakers say oil-rich allies in the Middle East should be doing more to subsidize fuel costs because of the stake they have in a secure Iraq. Others point to Iraq's own burgeoning surplus as crude oil prices top $100 a barrel. Subsidies let Iraqis pay only about $1.36 a gallon.

The U.S. military, through its Defense Energy Support Center, buys fuel on the open market, paying from $1.99 a gallon to as much as $5.30 a gallon under contracts with private and government-owned oil companies. The center then sets a fixed rate for troops, currently $3.51 a gallon for diesel, $3.15 for gasoline, $3.04 for jet fuel and $13.61 for a high-octane fuel used mostly in unmanned aerial vehicles.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23922063/

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Hey Congress - we all got suckered! Time to come home and use that money here!

[msongs]

1. why arent they getting it locally for dirt cheap (well if you think 1/2 million dead = dirt) nt

[Kolesar]

2. Time to start domestic rationing and speed limits to conserve oil for the troops

No gas on Sundays. 60 mph in the countryside and 55 mph in urban areas.

[burf]

3. May I add

cancel the NASCAR races on the weekends. Between the fuel the race cars use and the fuel used by the spectators to get to and from the event, we gotta be talking a pretty large amount. Take all the fuel savings to "support the troops". If the American people have to start contributing something it will be the beginning of the end...soon.

[Kolesar]

5. I was thinking snowmobiles and jet-skis, but those two actually have application

Although most people ride them for entertainment, snowmobiles are a necessary form of transportation.

[wingedearth]

4. And guess who's paying for these cost

The tax payer. That's right. You and me are paying for all those plane flights over the Iraqi skies, where millions of gallons of gas are sent in a war started on a pack of lies.

[noamnety]

6. Correct me if I'm wrong

but isn't this a reason for the middle east to NOT subsidize our costs in Iraq?

"because of the stake they have in a secure Iraq."

[underpants]

7. Also I remember 4 years ago hearing about how the Iraqis could buy gas at 50 cents a gallon

or something like that

:wtf: