The Hill - Pentagon officials have told the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee a gallon of fuel costs the military about $400 by the time it arrives in the remote locations in Afghanistan where U.S. troops operate.
The statistic is likely to play into the escalating debate in Congress over the cost of a war that entered its ninth year last week.
"It is a number that we were not aware of and it is worrisome," Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the chairman of the House Appropriations Defense panel, said in an interview with The Hill. "When I heard that figure from the Defense Department, we started looking into it."
The Pentagon comptroller's office provided the fuel statistic to the committee staff when it was asked for a breakdown of 
why every 1,000 troops deployed to Afghanistan costs $1 billion. The Obama administration uses this estimate in calculating the cost of sending more troops to Afghanistan.
why every 1,000 troops deployed to Afghanistan costs $1 billion. The Obama administration uses this estimate in calculating the cost of sending more troops to Afghanistan.The Obama administration is engaged in an internal debate over its future strategy in Afghanistan. Part of this debate concerns whether to increase the number of U.S. troops in that country.
The top U.S. general in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal, reportedly has requested that about 40,000 additional troops be sent.
A stark contrast to the "War Gas" can cost $100 a gallon from The Guardian in August, A single gallon of fuel in the war zone can cost as much as $100. The study was "motivated by the high costs -- as well as the risks to troops of getting oil and water to combat zones. For land-locked Afghanistan, the nearest port at Karachi in Pakistan is more than 400 miles away from marine bases, and maintaining those long supply lines has become an increasingly dangerous proposition." Military bases inside the U.S. are already working to lower their use of fossil fuels by exploring the use of renewable energy sources to provide electricity.
