OilPrice has an insightful look into the logistics of supplying the American forces in Afghanistan with fuel and the effects of the recent friendly-fire incident on the AfPak border.
On 27 November Interior Minister Rehman Malik, addressing journalists at the Ministry of the Interior's National Crisis Management Cell, after strongly condemning the NATO attack on Pakistani forces, stated that the resupply routes for NATO via Pakistan have been stopped "permanently," adding that the decisions of the Defense Cabinet Committee (DCC) on the NATO forces attack inside Pakistan would be implemented in letter and spirit, stressing that "The decisions of the DCC are final and would be implemented."The major issue at stake here for ISAF and U.S. forces is fuel, all of which must be brought in from abroad at high cost. In October 2009 Pentagon officials testified before the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee that the "Fully Burdened Cost of Fuel" (FBCF) translates to about $400 per gallon by the time it arrives at a remote Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Afghanistan. Last year, the FBCF reached $800 in some FOBs following supply route bombings in Pakistan, while others have claimed the FBCF may be as high as $1,000 per gallon in some remote locations. For many remote locations, fuel supplies can only be provided by air - one of the most expensive ways being in helicopter fuel bladders.
We can't operate in Afghanistan without cooperation from Pakistan. Once we're done in Afghanistan we won't need to be so nice to our "friends" in Pakistan. Not that I blame them for being angry at about the 24 Pakistani border guards we killed with an airstrike.
