The cost is about 2-1/2 time higher, in fact. At least:
Lacking a nearby seaport, bulk cargo shipped to Karachi must be driven through Pakistan into Afghanistan - past chokepoints that insurgents have attacked. Once in theater, rough terrain and bad roads increase the reliance on helicopters, which are expensive to bring into the country via cargo plane and expensive to operate after arrival.
"It's a very complicated logistics line that keeps our troops supplied there," said Todd Harrison, senior budget fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment in Washington.
The difficulty of getting to and around Afghanistan drives logistics costs to about $1 million per troop per year, far more than the roughly $400,000 it costs to supply troops in Iraq, according to a recent analysis by Harrison.
And that estimate may be conservative. The CSBA analyst found that it cost the Pentagon $25 to $45 per gallon of fuel consumed in Afghanistan, but others say the real price tag is far higher. The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James Conway, told a military energy forum in October that a gallon of fuel the government buys for $1.05 can cost $400 once it's poured into a gas tank in Afghanistan. Last summer, Marines in Helmand were burning 88,000 gallons a day.
So to win the good war, we'll likely need to spend at quite a good pace. More than in Iraq once we get all the new troops in, depending on the level of fighting that the enemy can maintain.
And never forget also that we spend money to avoid spending blood--both ours and civilians who could be caught in the crossfire.
