News
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
‘US spends $20bn a year on air-con in Iraq, Afghanistan’
LAHORE: The US military spends about $20 billion annually on air conditioning military tents and temporary structures in Iraq and Afghanistan, Brigadier General Steve Anderson, who served as chief logistician to General David Petraeus in Iraq, was quoted as saying by The Telegraph on Tuesday. He said the US Department of Defence (DOD) is shockingly inefficient in its energy use. “In essence what we’re doing is we’re air conditioning the desert over there in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places,” the report quoted Brig Gen Anderson as saying. Taking into account raw fuel, transport and security, “DOD will spend about $20 billion annually to air-condition tents and temporary structures,” he told National Public Radio. The fuel used to power air conditioners in remote bases in Afghanistan is shipped into Pakistan, before being transported by land for more than two weeks, the officer said. He elaborated that it must cross 800 miles of roads, many little more than “improved goat trails”, and areas where insurgents will use roadside bombs to target troops serving the US war effort. daily times monitor
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk