Economy factors into Afghanistan surge

[unhappycamper]

Economy factors into Afghanistan surge
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Dec 12, 2009 8:32:29 EST

Consider this: The U.S. military is annually consuming an average of 8,000 gallons of fuel for each service member deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — and the average cost of one gallon of delivered fuel ranges from $25 to $45, according to a recent study.

More than half of that is spent on security to protect the fuel convoy, said Todd Harrison, a budget analyst for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

Now, consider $30 billion — the estimated first-year cost of President Barack Obama’s new troop surge in Afghanistan, about $1 million for each additional U.S. service member being deployed.

Add that and future expenditures to the $950 billion or so that the U.S. has spent on its fights in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past eight years — against the backdrop of a still-flailing national economy — and it becomes clear why the cost of this new escalation was a factor in the just-ended three months of top-level White House meetings on how to move forward in the war launched following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

In his speech to the nation Dec. 1, Obama acknowledged the concern, saying he must “weigh all of the challenges” before the nation.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/army_afghancost_121309w/