"The Long War in the Sandbox"

Great video from Time that documents the logistics of resupply to the U.S. military in Afghanistan. An interesting article by J.R. McNeill and David Painter, "The Global Environmental Footprint of the U.S. Military," highlights the sheer volume of consumption that an American military empire engages in to maintain its footing. For example, an armored division (348 tanks) could consume as much as 600,000 gallons of gasoline in a day. That would be the equivalent of filling up your 1,724 gallon car at a cost of $4,568.60 a mere 348 times a day. Beyond just gas, we should also consider the vast amount of plastics, composite metals, and water it takes to keep the military effort going.

As Thomas Friedman has referred to it, what will it take to "outgreen" Al-Qaeda?