Remember back in the 1980s when we armed both sides of the Iran-Iraq War and then sat back and watched them kill each other? Ahhh, those were the days. We could have done the same thing in Libya and watched al Qaeda madmen and Kadhafi henchmen eliminate each other but no. Not with military genius Barack Obama at the helm.
CBS News details the President’s expensive expedition:
One week after an international military coalition intervened in Libya, the cost to U.S. taxpayers has reached at least $600 million, according figures provided by the Pentagon.
U.S. ships and submarines in the Mediterranean have launched at least 191Tomahawk cruise missiles from their arsenals, costing $268.8 million, the Pentagon said.
U.S. warplanes have dropped 455 precision guided bombs, costing tens of thousands of dollars each.
A downed Air Force F-15E fighter jet will cost more than $60 million to replace.
And operation of ships and aircraft, guzzling ever-more-expensive fuel to maintain their positions off the Libyan coast and in the skies above, could reach millions of dollars a week, experts say.“Each sortie, even if it drops no munitions, is very pricey,” said Winslow Wheeler of the Center for Defense Information. “These airplanes cost us tens of thousands of dollars to operate per hour, and the fancier you get in terms of planes, the costs get truly astounding.”
Nearly $100 million a day. Just imagine how many bloated public employee pensions that could have paid.
Wait. That may not have been the best example we could have come up with. Give us a couple minutes. Check back later. We’ll do better.
Source: CBS News
View Comments (15)
The good news? Obama is helping to restore Bush's image.
Damn, talk about waste. And then they wonder why people question their fiscal responsobility...
But if this is what a relatively small (still useless though) war costs. I can't help but wonder how much money was thrown down the hole in Iraq. Instead of wasting all that money and manpower there we could have sorted out the Afghan war long ago, seeing as how that was an actually justified war that would have been all the better.
And this money could, as some allready said, have been just to pay down the damn foreign debt
Hey, waaay cheaper than a Bozo and Mooshell semi-monthly vacation.
This is insanity. People around the world were okay with Afghanistan, people were SPLIT with Iraq. I do want to know the real amount of money spent in Iraq/Afghanistan but 600 million dollars in six days is utterly disgusting.
It doesn't look good for our servicemen who are in Libya, air, sea and land will be able to qualify for this medal even if Obama-mao is saying this war is "kinetic" and now "humanitarium" when missles, bombs and 20mm cannon fire have been used. Then again, the old "switcher-roo might be used again!
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37012
http://blog.usnavyseals.com/2010/05/military-medal-for-courageous-restraint.html
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/05/military_restraint_medal_051110mar/
ok, so spending less than a billion to help out people that legitimately needed and asked for intervention vs a tyrant is NOT ok, but spending a Trillion on a war that the whole world was against is ok?
I wonder if it's possible to fit more factually wrong crap into one sentence than you just did. Maybe we should have a contest. Invite a pro like Michael Moore to do a demo. Do some ribs on the BBQ, set up a stage, and then watch the contestants lie like rugs to win the grand prize. It'd be fun.
You'd probably win.
Obama is a walking talking enigma! Has America ever known so little about one of its presidents? He exemplifies true hypocrisy; He started out his lack luster presidency making his worldwide tour apologizing for America’s arrogance and now in full campaign mode proclaiming her exceptionalism? Bowing to every world leader and muslin potentate while advocating America’s leadership in favor of his acclaimed multinationals consensus through his much beloved United Nations “the first step towards his one world government”. He surrounds himself with 40+ self appointed czars who want bigger government with more and more authority over our private lives. He states he is a constitutional scholar but his educational records are under lock and key, he believes the constitution can and should be improved upon (by himself naturally) as he is being applauded as the brightest president in history (of course considering the source of such praise is from Biden, it about as meaningful as obama’s Noble prize). Last year on his tour of Europe he was too busy to pay respect for the U.S. servicemen buried on foreign soil, but found the time to pray at a Turkish mosque, now in his latest speech, he has nothing but praise for the men and women in uniform (welcome to the 2012 election of spiritual blasphemy) This administration is a terminal parasite that will suck its host (America) dry and leave it devoid of its greatness. Obama is the greatest threat America has ever faced!
Most excellent comment. I read it more than once. Well written, sir.
This Libya thing is just plain crazy: http://jpattitude.com/110325.php
Even more irritating than Obama putting us into another war in the Middle East is Boehner's complete and utter lack of spine. He sent a letter to Obama saying that he respects Obama's "authority as commander in chief." Huh? How about reading the Constitution, Boner? Obama doesn't have the authority you seem to think he has!
That fool in the White House doesn't give a damn how much this costs. It isn't his money so what the hell. He'll spend and spend to make himself look like the savior of the world and the righter of all wrongs.
How come I haven't heard anyone in the press call this a quagmire yet?