Military feels fuel-cost gouge in Iraq (AP)

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Military feels fuel-cost gouge in Iraq

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer
7 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - 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. Baghdad
subsidies let Iraqis pay only about $1.36 a gallon.

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