Originally Posted by pedex
the US military is already scrambling, the price of fuel is already denting their wallet significantly, at some point, we might not be able to use force to enforce our way of life..........live by the gun, die by the gun, and it never had to be that way
This doesn't seem right. They have a war reserve don't they? They used to. As far as their day to day operations, fuel cost is easy to justify to a congress that use their SUVs just to cross the street to a meeting. It isn't as hard to justify fuel increase as it is to justify a cost overrun on a new ship or plane and the latter happens all the time. Their fuel costs are more predictable than an individual's because they negotiate purchase agreements with the major suppliers. When they scramble it is to balance purchase agreements with current operations. If they miscalculate the location of operations they might have to go out on the spot market to avoid dipping into war reserve or running dry. For example, we're not doing anything in Indonesia but if we had to send a battle group down there to help Australia or the sultan of Brunei the fuel purchase agreements wouldn't be in place. Then they'd scramble because of the new fuel distribution pattern. As far as us car free people go, I think the government will let the city buses run dry before denying the military, especially if the military justifies its fuel needs as a means to grab more fuel.
Has the war in Iraq drained the war reserve? That would be a stupid way for the government to hide some of the war cost. If the government did that then the military would be doing more than scrambling. The spot market can't fill the those large tanks fast enough to support a war that disrupts oil supply, that is why we have it.