Every year, American troops risk their lives guarding fuel transport lines and convoys, with nearly 1,000 casualties in 2004 alone. Giffords for Congress today called on special interest group Conservatives for Congress to cancel its new TV ad that plays politics with the lives of U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan.

The ad—which cuts off General David Petraeus before he has finished speaking—makes an issue of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ questioning of General Petraeus before the House Armed Services Committee. Giffords asked General Petraeus about the military policy of reducing fuel consumption. Many U.S. troops have lost their lives or been injured on fuel resupply convoys.

Arizona National Guardsman Mark Cardenas saw firsthand the dangers of our military’s dependence on fuel. Cardenas guarded more than 4,000 miles of convoys during his 15-month deployment to Iraq that began in August 2006. “As someone who spent 15 months guarding convoys – the vast majority of which were fuel convoys – in Iraq, I find this ad un-American. Our dependence on fuel wastes our resources, puts thousands of soldiers in danger everyday and does nothing to advance our strategic missions. There is a better way to do this overall, and that is by freeing ourselves of this leash so our military can go do the job they were sent to accomplish.”

Current U.S. military policy calls for reducing fuel consumption as a way to lower the risk to our troops’ life and limb. In addition, General Petraeus’ 2006 Counterinsurgency Manual specifically notes that the development of a stable electric supply is part of a successful counterinsurgency strategy. Please see the fact sheet below for relevant information.

“The people behind this group should be ashamed of themselves. Congresswoman Giffords was doing her job by asking General Petraeus about his efforts to keep our troops safe,” said Giffords for Congress campaign manager Rodd McLeod. “I think Jesse Kelly will do the right thing here and call for this ad to be taken down.”

Gabrielle Giffords is a third generation Southern Arizonan and the only person in Congress with an active duty military spouse. Gabrielle is not like other politicians. She takes an independent view on the issues and was rated Arizona’s most moderate member of Congress by the National Journal in 2009. She’s voted against a Congressional pay raise every time one has come up, and she doesn’t make earmark requests for campaign contributors. Most importantly, Gabrielle stands up for Southern Arizona by working across the aisle to secure the border, protect our military and veterans and creates jobs by investing in solar energy.

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The Facts: Reducing Fuel Consumption Saves Lives

The 2006 Army Counterinsurgency Field Manual written by General David Petraeus identifies a stable electrical supply as critical to military success in counterinsurgency operations.

“2-6. COIN is fought among the populace. Counterinsurgents take upon themselves responsibility for the people’s well-being in all its manifestations. These include the following:

· Security from insurgent intimidation and coercion, as well as from nonpolitical violence and crime.
· Provision for basic economic needs.
· Provision of essential services, such as water, electricity, sanitation, and medical care.
· Sustainment of key social and cultural institutions.
· Other aspects that contribute to a society’s basic quality of life.

Effective COIN programs address all aspects of the local populace’s concerns in a unified fashion. Insurgents succeed by maintaining turbulence and highlighting local grievances the COIN effort fails to address. COIN forces succeed by eliminating turbulence and helping the host nation meet the populace’s basic needs.”

(Petraeus, David H., and James F. Amos. Counterinsurgency. Rep. no. FM 3-24. United States Army, Dec. 2006. http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/coin/repository/FM_3-24.pdf, p. 44.)

Every year, American troops risk their lives guarding fuel transport lines and convoys, with nearly 1,000 casualties in 2004 alone.

(Sustain the Mission Project: Casualty Factors for Fuel and Water Resupply Convoys. United States Army Environmental Policy Institute, 9/17/09. www.aepi.army.mil/docs/…/SMP_Casualty_Cost_Factors_Final1-09.pdf, p.3)

As the U.S. Army’s 2009 Sustain the Mission Project study shows, we can save troops lives by reducing our military’s consumption of fuel in theaters of battle.

(Sustain the Mission Project: Casualty Factors for Fuel and Water Resupply Convoys, United States Army Environmental Policy Institute, 9/17/09. www.aepi.army.mil/docs/…/SMP_Casualty_Cost_Factors_Final1-09.pdf, p. 9.)

Leading U.S. military strategists agree that our military’s dependence on fuel is “a matter of life and death,” and reducing that dependence will save American lives.

Iraq Experience
“Unleash us from the tether of fuel,” said Lieutenant General James N. Mattis, Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, on his Operation Iraqi Freedom experience as Commanding General, 1st Marine Division. Comment was made during a March 2003 drive to Baghdad.

Afghanistan Experience
“Increased use of convoys to transport fuel and water — which account for about 80 percent of the weight of everything the U.S. takes to war — was a root cause of U.S. casualties, and there was no sign that the Pentagon intended to shift the strategy it used in Iraq,” Retired U.S. Air Force General Charles Wald, (“Pentagon Could Save Lives by Cutting Fuel Use,” Reuters, 10/11/2009.)

U.S. Dept. of Defense Experience
“Our dependence on fuel adds significant cost and puts US soldiers and contractors at risk,” said Dorothy Robyn, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Installations and Environment. “Energy can be a matter of life and death and we have seen dramatically in Iraq and Afghanistan the cost of heavy reliance on fossil fuels.” (“Obama puts government on low-carbon diet,” The New York Times, 1/29/10.)