And you thought you had it bad at the pump

The AP is reporting on the cost and consumption of fuel by our military in the Promised Land of Petroleum. Fuel economy is seldom a consideration in designing military vehicles and waste is fundamental to warfare so none of this should shock you, good citizen.

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.

...Overall, the military consumes about 1.2 million barrels, or more than 50 million gallons of fuel, each month in Iraq at an average $127.68 a barrel. That works out to about $153 million a month.

A number of Congressmoops are up in arms about this, but the only real solution is to get out of Iraq.