Pêntágon sees Libya military costs soar

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

www.ft.com/cms/s/0/11d5624c-920f-11e0-b8c1-00144feab49a.html#axzz1Oo9x7ejA

(excerpt ... see full story at link)

US military operations in Libya are on course to cost hundreds of millions of dollars more than the Pentagon estimated, according to figures obtained by the Financial Times.

Robert Gates, the outgoing secretary of defence, said last month that the Pentagon expected to spend “somewhere in the ball park of $750m” in the 2011 fiscal year as part of efforts to protect the Libyan people.

But according to a Pentagon memo which includes a detailed update on the progress and pace of operations, by mid-May US operations in Libya had cost $664m, a figure confirmed by the Department of Defence.

The document, entitled the “United States Contribution to Operation Unified Protector’’, adds that US costs are running at a rate of about $2m a day or $60m a month. The memo has been circulating on Capitol Hill since last week. The DoD declined to comment on the increased costs of the operation.

The pace of spending is higher than reported by the DoD comptroller’s office in late March. In a congressional hearing, Pentagon officials said the US had spent about $550m on Libya, at a rate of about $40m a month.

If spending remains at the increased rate until the end of the recently extended Nato authorisation period, the DoD could face an extra bill of about $274m to pay for a combination of air strikes, refuelling operations and intelligence-gathering missions, putting further strain on its budget.

Any extra spending will further strain the DoD’s budget, which is under pressure from cost overruns on procurement programmes and under threat from significant cuts as part of Congressional efforts to address the federal deficit.

Despite continuing to press the White House for additional funding for Libya operations, in his May comments Secretary Gates suggested that “in the case of Libya, unfortunately, we’re fundamentally having to eat that one.”

Any additional costs could also add to pressure on the US to limit its mission in Libya. Last week, the House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution demanding that President Obama explain the US involvement in Libya, forestalling a more radical measure seeking an end to US involvement.

[Deleted]

Obama is out of control.

[Deleted]

Big surprise..

[floridayankee]

But.....but.....but......

I thought NATO was taking this over. How can this be?

[ugonow]

Before you know it,it will all be off budget spending and we will be sending pallets of cash there. Time to go.

[Deleted]

He's blowing the crap out of several places right now. Excuse my language, but he is..

[Deleted]

LOL, Dem!! I think the traditional spelling will work!!!

[Deleted]

Just off the top of my head-- hasn't it been known for some time now that Yemen is THE terrorist place right now?? SO, in the interest of US security, why is blowing up Yemen "covert", while we are blowing up Libya for God knows who to step in?? This kind of stuff really tweaks my NWO tin foil hat stuff, because it makes no sense..

[Deleted]

History shows us that we needed help during the revolution with England. I think we have paid that back by now (to other countries) with both money & lives. We don't need to help Libya.

[pappyjohn99]

Come on everyone. This is our Peace Prize President. These are not wars. We have money to burn for these fine people that are only seeking democracy, just the same as us.

[ugonow]

These are not wars. We have money to burn for these fine people that are only seeking democracy, just the same as us.

Lol....what a difference a couple years make.....

[NoMoreLunacy]

Ridiculous!!! Why in the world are we getting involved in Libya? We got no oil money out of Iraq. Will we never learn?

[zipity]

Wow, $750 million making it the most cost effective war we are currently involved in. There are many reasons to say "who cares" when it comes to Libya, but cost is pretty far down on the list? With a defense budget of $750 billion, Libya is a rounding error. Approximately equal to 5 of the 2400 F-35 Joint Strike fighters ordered by the Pentagon. $750 million is the amount Obama raised in the 2008 campaign. Peanuts. If one of the bombing strikes manages to kill Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, that's $750 million well spent.

[NoMoreLunacy]

Jun 9, 2011 22:27:09 GMT -5 zipity said:

Wow, $750 million making it the most cost effective war we are currently involved in. There are many reasons to say "who cares" when it comes to Libya, but cost is pretty far down on the list? With a defense budget of $750 billion, Libya is a rounding error. Approximately equal to 5 of the 2400 F-35 Joint Strike fighters ordered by the Pentagon. $750 million is the amount Obama raised in the 2008 campaign. Peanuts. If one of the bombing strikes manages to kill Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, that's $750 million well spent.

I don't care about the Lockerbee bomber. $750M is a lot of money. Just because wasting public tax dollars have become the norm under Bush doesn't mean that Obama has to continue it. Stop the nonsense already.

[hello fromWarsaw]

.Great things are happening, cheap. Thanks for the Depression and the stupidest wars ever, and stalling the recovery, now sthu, tyvm.

[pappyjohn99]

You got that right Warsaw, we are heading into the double dip resession and Libya and Yemen are the stupidest wars ever. Progressive dupes.

[NoMoreLunacy]

Jun 10, 2011 1:07:57 GMT -5 pappyjohn99 said:

You got that right Warsaw, we are heading into the double dip resession and Libya and Yemen are the stupidest wars ever. Progressive dupes.

Don't forget Iraq and Afghanistan - two are super stupid wars. And Obama keeps continuing them after promising that he will bring the troops home. Pisses me off to no end. First Bush, then Obama, together they are ruining this country. We need someone who can control the spending.