In War, $100 Million a Month Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry.

$100 million – that's how much the U.S. spends each month to reroute Afghanistan war supplies around closed ground routes in Pakistan, in part because U.S. leaders continue to refuse Pakistan's demand for a formal apology for the November deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers killed during a mistaken-identity border skirmish with NATO air forces.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta put a number on the costs of alternate shipping routes for the first time in Wednesday testimony to Congress. While Panetta said that both sides have a made progress towards a deal to reopen the supply routes, called the Ground Lines of Communication - or GLOCs - in military speak, he stressed that the apology isn't the only sticking point.

“The U.S. had made clear that mistakes were made, and they were made on our side, they were also made on the Pakistani side. We've expressed our condolences for the mistakes that were made," Panetta said. “That alone isn't the only issue that's being discussed and that needs to be resolved in order to get the GLOCS open."

In a Tuesday press briefing, Pentagon spokesman George Little similarly avoided the word “apology,” saying that U.S. leaders had “taken responsibility” for the deaths, and “expressed our deep regret and condolences.”

When pressed on why the U.S. wouldn't apologize and asked to confirm it was a sticking point in negotiations, Little implied that a formal apology was still under negotiation.

“Well, again, this gets to the contours of the negotiation, and I wouldn't get into the specifics of what we're discussing or not discussing with the Pakistanis,” Little said, “Whether or not an apology is part of that mix is not something I'm going to discuss in a public forum.”

The Department of Defense investigation into the border skirmish chalked it up to poor communication, fueled by a lack of trust between U.S. and Pakistani forces. U.S. forces near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border came under fire, and acted in self defense and with appropriate force, before being informed that their adversaries were Pakistani, not insurgent, forces. After the skirmish, Pakistan kicked the CIA out of an air base that had been used for drone strikes and shut the U.S, out of trucking routes to Afghanistan.

Until now, military leaders had been reluctant to put a price on the costs of rerouting supplies, probably concerned that Pakistan would use that price against them in negotiations to reopen the GLOCS.

Is there any hope of rescuing the dysfunctional relationship between America and Pakistan? Let's review a list of greatest hits from the past year or so: 1) Bin Laden was found hiding deep in Pakistan 2) the Pakistani doctor who helped U.S. forces locate Bin Laden was sentenced to 33 years in prison for treason 3) Taliban fighters continue to hide in Pakistan, and U.S. drone strikes continue to kill them (and nearby civilians) in Pakistan 4) 24 Pakistanis are killed after firing on NATO forces near the Afghanistan border.