U.S. military pays $610 million in Afghan war 'late fees'

Our take: Though it may be difficult to remove materiel from Afganistan, the U.S. military seems to have made a poor decision in its shipping matters.

The US military squandered more than $610 million in late fees over the past decade by failing to return rented shipping containers in Afghanistan on time, according to a data point buried at the bottom of a USA Today story.

According to this website specializing in shipping container sales, the cost of a new 40-ft.-high cube runs $5,000 or more, with used versions starting at $3,000. A hundred thousand new containers would cost just north of $500 million, considerably less than the cost of the late fees let alone the original cost of renting them.

Read more about Afgan war 'late fees' on The Christian Science Monitor.