The cost of the American and European assault on Libya already easily tops hundreds of millions of dollars, and has the potential to rise significantly if the operation drags on for weeks or months.
Coalition efforts to undermine Muammar al-Qaddafi’s air defenses and save the rebels from defeat have lasted for four nights already. If the U.S. role continues to be limited, with the Pentagon using its existing budget to cover the expense, the price tag on involvement will only rise moderately.
As of Tuesday, a U.S. defense official told Fox News the U.S. has fired 161 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Libyan territory, with 24 missiles being fired overnight Monday into Tuesday. Each missile is priced at $1 million to $1.5 million apiece and dispatched B-2 stealth bombers -- round-trip from Missouri -- to drop 2,000-pound bombs on Libyan sites.
Fair enough. Wars do cost money and if only we hadn't, you know, run a budget surplus into the single biggest debt ever built on this planet, perhaps FOX would be right to point this out.
And yet, a few hundred million pails when compared to:
The Pentagon has requested $553 billion for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, plus $118 billion in war costs for Iraq and Afghanistan.
So let me see...four nights = $100 million, times ninety would be...carry the one...$9 billion. So, its less than ten percent of the cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars today, and those wars have been scaled back (in toto) from the Bush administration.
Now, go Google "Bush war cost: Fox News" and see if anything comes up...
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