U.S. tab for Libya mission: $550 million so far

WASHINGTON - The military intervention in Libya has cost the Pentagon an extra $550 million so far, mostly for bombs and missiles, officials said Tuesday.

The figure is not a full picture of the price tag for the operation in that it does not include such money as pay for U.S. sailors, airmen and other forces, who would have been deployed somewhere in the world anyway, officials said. But it is the first official figure released on the cost of setting up the no-fly zone in the North African nation and protecting civilians from strongman Moammar Gadhafi as he resists a movement to oust him.

Of the $550 million in added spending through Monday, about 60 percent was "for munitions, the remaining costs are for higher operating tempo" of U.S. forces and of getting them there, Cmdr. Kathleen Kesler, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Tuesday.

Complete coverage: Anger in the Arab World

As of Monday, the 10thday of the intervention, the U.S. had launched 192 long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles from naval positions in the Mediterranean Sea — at a cost of about $1 million to $1.5 million each. The U.S. also had flown 983 sorties, 370 of those bombing missions against Gadhafi military sites and forces and the rest for surveillance, refueling and so on.

The spending only addresses the U.S. part of the costs in Libya, where an international coalition has been operating and NATO is now taking over command.

"Future costs are highly uncertain," Kesler said. But officials estimate that they'll see added costs of about $40 million over the next three weeks as U.S. forces are reduced and NATO assumes more responsibility for the operation started March 19, she said.

After that, officials expect to spend about $40 million a month, "if U.S. forces stay at the levels currently planned and the operation continues," Kesler said.

[WorldNewsLocal]

If you would post this article on www.WorldNewsLocal.com you would get 50% of the advertising revenue, paid directly from Google.

[credibility2]

The president can fritter away this kind of money and allow cost of living increases for overpaid and under-worked federal employees, but hasn't any money for the COLA for the disabled or seniors, three years in a row.

[6591Hou]

Oil fluctuated around $104 a barrel in New York as Libyan rebels advanced against troops loyal to Muammar Qaddafi, which dug in near his hometown of Sirte.

Futures edged higher after dropping as much as 1.2 percent as international leaders met in London to forge a postwar blueprint for Libya.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-29/crude-oil-futures-decline-to-lowest-level-in-week-on-libyan-rebel-advance.html

Europe gets their oil from Libya, not us - gotta love it. And the Europeans are already meeting in London to carve Libya up...

[queenieb187]

im speechless....wow....

[DidHeSayThat]

I blame all of you republicans for the fiasco that our government is in.

Oh sure, the democrats are social do-gooders with naive thoughts and know no better. But the republicans have made sure that only the neo-cons and industrialists are able to break our backs and bankrupt this country.

For example, all of you republicans made sure to snicker behind Ross Perot's back when he explained with charts how our country was going to go broke if we didn't change it. All of you republicans shunned Patrick Buchanan when he explained the folly of war and how intervening weakens our own borders. In fact, you called him an anti-semite.

In fact, anytime any republican with the good common sense of man comes on board, if he doesn't meet your abortion litmus test from the religious right or the war mongering of the military generals who need more stars before retirement and billions to the war machines, you immediately ostracize them and isolate them and shun them and remove them from any ability to make a difference.

Shame on you all for removing the real hope from average Americans.

[enlightenu]

military intervention in Libya: $550 million

Real live on the job training: priceless

[enlightenu]

military intervention in Libya: $550 million

Real live on the job training: priceless