Cost of Libya on Day One? Well over $100 million dollars

[James48]

Source: http://www.govexec.com

The cost of kicking off the Libyan war, in the first day, was well over $100 million dollars, according to
the National Journal. Operations to shut-down Libyan airspace will continue to cost a great deal.

The initial stages of taking out Libya's air defenses could ultimately cost U.S.-led coalition forces between $400 million and
$800 million, according to a report released by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. On the first day of strikes alone,
U.S.-led forces launched from ships stationed off the Libyan coast 112 long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, which cost in the range of
$1 million to $1.5 million apiece. That is $112 million to $168 million for the first day's strike in missiles alone. Also added to the bill was the
cost of flying B-2 bombers from U.S. bases, to drop high cost munitions on target.

Read more: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=47381&oref=todaysnews

---

You realize, of course, that the cost of one day of the Tomahawk missiles alone equals enough funding for nearly 30 years of NPR radio.

And could easily exceed what what was "secretly tucked away in Obamacare".

[aquart]

1. Unreality check: That money was never going to go for public radio.

NPR wasn't defunded because it was expensive and you actually know that.

My, the arguments against helping the Libyan uprising are so TEA PARTYISH.

And, like the Tea Party, so utterly lacking in any common sense.

[Vinee]

8. yeah, liberals for war! Get some! Get some!

[spartan61]

2. Not to worry

the Middle Class will pay for this once they figure out what else they can take away from us. We sure don't want to cause any grief for the the wealthy and have them worry they could lose their tax cuts.:sarcasm:

[Catherina]

3. Not to worry. We don't need to eat. They can raise our taxes to restock n/t

[David__77]

4. It's like taking a sledgehammer to the foundations of the country.

It's corrosive, all this expenditure on foreign adventures. Maybe someone, somewhere will try to govern in the interests of the people of the US.

[NorthCarolina]

5. A steal-of-a-deal at twice the cost!

:sarcasm:

[Tx4obama]

6. Those missles were made and paid for a long time ago.

Besides they have expiration dates, if they are not used then they are junked and replaced with new ones.
So, basically if we have gone to Libya or not then the price tag would have still been about the same.
And the cost of flying the bombers isn't relevant - those planes are flown on a regular basis anyway - pilots have to fly so many hours each month/year - that is why they have practice exercises/missions etc.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. Seriously, they expire?

I didn't know that. Do you have any idea how long they last and/or how many are replaced each year?

[Tx4obama]

11. I don't know the statisitcs. But many folks here on DU have said they expire

and eventually have to be replaced.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

12. Thinking about it, I don't doubt it.

It's just not anything I've ever thought about before. I was just wondering how many they have to replace each year to keep their stock fresh. I have no idea even how many they keep on hand at any given moment. Let alone how many are made each year.

[James48]

13. We're still working our way through the 2006 buy

Back in 2006, we bought another 473 missiles for $346 million. We're still working our way through those now. Block III Tomahawks have a projected shelf life of 15 years. Looks like we just made it under that for the Block III's.

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/fy06-order-346m-for-473-tactical-tomahawk-block-iv-cruise-missiles-02027/

Of course, now we'll have to figure out how to replace the 150 or so already fired in the last two days.

That should come to another $1.5 million apiece or so, whenever the Navy is ready to order more.

[onethatcares]

17. thank gaud for that.

I mean, what else would we do with them? turn em into nuclear reactor fuel?

We are no.1, we are no 1, we got our fuggin priorities seriously twisted.

[LawnKorn]

20. Hughes Missile Systems Company is giving themselves the big-bucks high-five right now

The cash registers are ringing.

Missile production - cha ching!

Engineering design changes - cha ching!

Cost overruns due to Government error - cha ching!

[NorthCarolina]

14. They have a freshness date on them. nt

[Spider Jerusalem]

16. Yes, they expire

high explosive is a volatile chemical compound which decomposes and becomes unstable over time (this is why unexploded ordnance from the First World War still buried under the fields of Belgium is so dangerous).

[AtheistCrusader]

23. Well BY ALL MEANS

let's bomb the shit out of people with them.

I'm sure we won't kill any innocent bystanders. We sure can afford to own the outcome in what is Libya's own form of civil war. I mean, we're just TRIPPING over blood and treasure we can't think of anything else to do with.

China and Russia said 'no thanks'. We could have as well. If Canada, the UK, and France want to go for it, by all means, they can go to town.

We're coming up on the 10 year anniversary of invading Afghanistan, no victory, no end in sight. Bombing little kids gathering firewood and shit.

[plumbob]

30. Oh well then, as long as killing is cheap or nearly free, let's do it!

But now I'm mixed up - doesn't this make the hijackers on 911 right? After all, their expense was zero or nearly so.

So shouldn't we be congratulating our comrades in arms in cheap killing?

My only tattoo (installed at a memorable Mardi Gras in 1972) reads: Killing for peace is like fucking for virginity.

I was right then, and I'm right now.

And I supposed that the people killed don't count either because we all die of something?

So really, this whole deal over the cost of war is just hype.

"Kill now before the price goes up."

[daleo]

33. Their "expiry date" might be 20 years from now

If they haven't expired yet, then they are an asset. When you use up an asset it goes into the minus column on a spreadsheet, thus you have spent real money. This is how finances work. You can't wave that away with talk about some vague future expiration date talk, as if these were week old donuts that were about to be given to the homeless.

[zogofzorkon]

34. The homeless are not to be given donuts it makes them stop looking for

work. The less we help feed and clothe these people the more we can spend on killing people in other lands.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

7. $$$ due to the US taxpayers from the Gov't of France, England and the UN $700 million for 1 day

[Tx4obama]

9. Obama Administration: There Are No Current Plans To Ask Congress For Libya Funds

Obama Administration: There Are No Current Plans To Ask Congress For Libya Funds

SNIP

According to administration officials, however, the choice facing the president is not an either/or, since there are no current plans to ask Congress for a supplemental bill to pay for the military intervention in Libya.

"The operation in Libya is being funded with existing resources at this point. We are not planning to request a supplemental at this time,” Office of Management and Budget spokesman Kenneth Baer said Monday.

That seems to indicate the administration's confidence that the military mission will be brief, as White House officials have insisted -- though if historical precedent is any guide, the president could likely secure additional funds for a longer campaign should he press Congress for them. Some lawmakers, however, worry that the no-fly zone, pitched as a mere days-long commitment, will serve as a gateway to a larger military engagement.

SNIP

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/21/obama-libya-funds-congress_n_838707.html

[plumbob]

31. I'm sure that this country will soon be pelted with rose petals as the

grateful Libyans throw flowers our way!

After all, what could go wrong??!!!






Still, seems I remember:
Dick Cheney said, “We will be greeted as liberators.”

Donald Rumsfeld said, in effect, that the war would pay for itself: “The bulk of the funds for Iraq’s reconstruction will come from Iraqis – from oil revenues, recovered assets, international trade, direct foreign investment….”

That certainly worked out well - our government has been a real sage on wars, especially in say, the last 10 years.

[sasha031]

15. it's time to bring back the draft

all those that are pro war should share in the sacrifice, a war tax would be more than fair too.

[TBF]

18. Just lay off a few teachers - that'll pay for it.

:banghead:

[L. Coyote]

27. More like 1,500 teachers!

[L. Coyote]

28. Every missile fired is another dozen teachers not hired! Each missile is a dozen jobs lost.

But hey, we have our national priorities in order!!

[totodeinhere]

19. Can you put a monetary value on the lives of innocent civilians being murdered by Gaddafi?

I don't think so. I applaud President Obama for doing what Clinton would not do during the Rwandan genocide.

[Vinee]

21. what about the innocent civilians that were murdered by Saddam Hussein?

were their lives less valuable? Fucking hypocrisy.

[totodeinhere]

24. I'm not being hypocritical. Of course any life anywhere can't have a monetary value placed upon it.

I didn't support Bush's intervention in Iraq because he did not get authority from the UN to do it and it was based upon his false claims about WMD's and it was not couched in humanitarian terms like this Libyan intervention has been. And having said that, it is also true that we do not have the wherewithal to intervene everywhere in the world that innocent lives are being taken by a dictator. But we were able to do it this time and I support President Obama on this.

[Vinee]

25. Are you sure you weren't just playing political football with the lives of American soldiers?

Because I'm not so sure. Let's evaluate. It's not OK to risk our blood and treasure when a US President and congress authorizes it in the wake of a major act of war (one of several no less) perpetrated by radical Islamic terrorists but it is OK to go to war when the UN authorizes it in the wake of something that has NOTHING to do with American lives and without the consent of congress? And that isn't hypocrisy?

[L. Coyote]

29. How about the million civilians killed in Iraq thanks to interventionism.

I hope you are starting to keep a count now. Ending a war is never a unilateral decision.
You don't know if this one will cost 20 million or 40 million lives yet, or only a thousand.

[plumbob]

32. Why wait til now? Why did we let him take power in 1969 until now?

I mean, the whole Lockerbie thing was a long time ago, and we left him right where he is now.

In fact, he was one of our BFF starting in 2003 until just the other day.

So why not any of those 42 years before now?

I have not supported any war while I've been alive (b. 1952), and I don't support this one, either. They are killing the country, literally. We have way more than enough problems here without looking for them in endless empty holes abroad. I'm sure I can't get you to change your mind. I just want to be on the record from the start as against, so I don't get labeled as a tagalong in a few years or a decade when this is going on with hundreds of thousands of ground troops from the US in theater.

[JDPriestly]

22. We don't have a shortage of money. We have an excess of greed in

certain segments of our society.

[Swampguana]

26. I think I still have

some pennies you can come back later for em!

[inwiththenew]

35. This is why defense spending will always be a large portion of the budget

Too many Americans think it is our duty every time some asshole starts causing trouble to send the fleet and shock and awe them into submission.