Military Involvement in Libya Costs Taxpayers Millions

Reader Comments
Back to article

What a marvelous opportunity we've missed to say "Time out! We're broke and we'll have to miss this latest intervention--a difficult thing to do since we're addicted to them."
Each of us knows someone who is perpetually broke because of some habit that could be broken with at least a little willpower and effort. There are druggies, pack-a-day people, fuel hogs in their oversize vehicles, and so on. If you don't have much money, don't spend it foolishly.
Why, then, is the United States, owner of the biggest national debt in the world, payer of interest in annual amounts bigger than the annual budgets of some pretty sizable countries, and in the process of cutting federal spending now re-engaged in squandering money on yet another intervention? The simple answer is addictions are hard to kick. The more complex answer is that we like the power we have, enjoy projecting it everywhere in the world, and fear weakening it by failing to use it at every opportunity. Use it or lose it. Selective use, as in Libya, is just the latest episode in a long series.
The United States spends more than the rest of the world combined on National Security (National Defense, Homeland Security, Nation Building, Foreign Aid designed to gain the cooperation of other countries, and Veterans Affairs). $1 trillion a year is the figure--and rising. Every component of National Security is necessitated by another. For instance, nation building isn't in the budgets of many countries because those nations don't intervene and cause the need for it. Same thing with Homeland Security, a very big deal here, because we make ourselves a target through our foreign policy decisions, but a very small one in Costa Rica. And so on.
If you wonder why so little is said about National Security in the ongoing budget/spending cuts, you now know part of the answer. It's a lot easier to cut, say, National Public Radio or "entitlements" than to give up the habit, power. But there's even more.
What Dwight Eisenhower called the military-industrial complex is endlessly in need of care, feeding, an exercising. No big government contracts and Lockheed Martin, for one among MANY, MANY military contractors, could shrivel up and blow away. There go a lot of jobs in the states of some representatives and senators, and maybe as important, there go considerable contributions to political parties and candidates.
Sound like a vicious circle yet? Sound like there's no way of ending it? As long as you're complicit by not doing anything, nothing will change. The minute you begin loudly and persistently objecting to the wasteful expenditure of a trillion dollars a year (with no money coming in, unlike Social Security and Medicare), there's hope. I'll do my part. You do yours. Said by enough, "Time out!" could really happen.

Ron W. Smith of UT 12:06PM March 24, 2011

The cost should be covered by Libya itself. In the meantime, this is United Nations activity. They should pay for ir if Libya does not

H4uza of NJ 11:11AM March 24, 2011

Don't send tomahawk missiles, rather, roundup the lions, tigers, and elephants in Africa and send them to LibbyYa. Much cheaper.

Will Ryerson of NC 9:29AM March 24, 2011

Obama has gone off half cocked, and the results were predictable!
http://www.breitbart.tv/kucinich-slams-president-obamas-war-actions-with-senator-obamas-anti-war-rhetoric/
http://bartlett.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=230210
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/03
/20/michael_moore_to_obama_return_your_nobel_peace_prize.html
http:// thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23933368-did-hillary-finally-push-obama-into-action-on-libya.do www.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/235196/Barack-Obama-The-Weakest-President-in-history-
http://www.hapblog.com/2011/03/who-hell-do-you-think-your-are.html

PappyHappy of CA 6:29AM March 24, 2011

The Administration shall deduct all expenses for services provided from Libya's and Qaddafi-mob's frozen $32+B accounts prior to returning the funds to the Libyan People for a supervised restructuring of Libya. The US taxpayer must be spared when it is obviously easily arranged in this case.

Chris of MD 6:11PM March 23, 2011

into Lybia from other countries like mostly from Euro countries, money wise a planes into the air and it can not be there for a long time to support the oh no fly zone, each of them make long trip to get there which is also mean money wise if u have tank on the ground you would have do the jobs much effectively helping the Lybia people stop Kadafi from mass murder those people after the plane left the no fly zone to refuel it gas, we must need tank on the ground to support peace keeping mission. For those of you think of Kadafi air defend was weaken after the air strike should think again the F-15E Streak Eagle that they was down probaly by AAA or SAM it was a build high speed heavy weight fighter jet convert into multi role for doing bombing mission, according to the pic that they took the nose of the jet in one place tail of the jet in other place it look like it was shoot down more than it was crash, as i remember Isreal did show some clip of their F-15 with only 1 wing safety land back in their base after hit something. If they could down an F15 which is abble to fly at March 2.5 and more durable than F16, F-18, and F-14, then that mean Kadafi still have alot of AAA that could shoot like a fish net into the sky or he still have alot of larger SAM that could shoot very high up into the sky to down that jet there, about that term don't wana put troop on the ground too bad they already when the 2 pilot parachute to the ground they have to send in special force helicopter to recover those 2 pilots, fight and win Kadafi without puting troop on the ground i think there is no can't do to achieve that. What if the pilot parachute and the Kadafi force pick them up first they can sit at the table and nego with Obama to stop the bombing and restarted to butcher the rebels and the inocent people. You know why because before he make a counter offense against the rebel he meet up with Russia, China, India for weapons when he afraid that if he advances on that the allies gona jump in, and abit longer before that he also meet with Belarus for arm his troop to survived the on slaught of the rebel, that mean he have enought toys to play offense and defense, and now he said he gona open his arm stockpile to prolong the war, if Obama don't end the war now probaly the next president had to solved his messy war story, well if they are going to take our money from making weapons and spend it we might well taken their cheap gas after we win the battle by kick him out off power and after we put troop on the ground to taken incharge of all their pumping station, pipe lines, and offshore refinery we don't prolong the war that cost tax payer money so why don't we go all out at it and end it quickly by win it, instead of leting them go on and on about that?

LonelyGuyUSD of CA 11:57AM March 23, 2011

And they must be used before peremptory date, because of the lithium battery that is inside?
This would explain why France and England and USA bomb some arabs every N years, but never bomb any terrorist like Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Milosevic, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, Ben Ali, Mubarak, Gaddafi...
These terrorists are allowed to kill thousands of peoples, but they will never be bombed!
Their snipers kills exactly the opponents they want, but our snipers never kill any terrorists: terrorists can sleep without fear in their palaces...

Jean-Francois Morf, Charrat, Switzerland 6:31AM March 23, 2011

Knowing nobody will never send him to the hell...
Why bomb everything, knowing Gaddafi will obstinately remain?

Jean-Francois Morf, Charrat, Switzerland 6:11AM March 23, 2011

USA was the first country to fight and win against modern colonialism. So it is shameful that we surrender those principles to aid and abet former colonial masters of Libya.
Yes, for majority of us those European nations may be the lands of our forefathers. But that doesn't mean that we have to cover up their mistakes and greed.
Had George Washington and others of that time felt otherwise they would never have fought the War of Independence against the land of their forefathers.
Yes, the War in Iraq was started for oil's sake. But how much of the Iraqi oil has come from here?
So if Britain and France are having visions of Libyan oil "flowing" to their countries at concessional rates they are mistaken.
No need for any American citizen to shed blood or waste his tax money on such impossible European dreams.

Al of NY 9:59PM March 22, 2011

I can't tell what prompted Mr. Barrack Obama to take this utterly irresponsible decision, but with the economy back home already in a perilous shape, thanks to equally irresponsible decisions by his predecessors in yesteryears, this war in Libya will only serve to further destaibilise the US economy and polarised an already deeply divided population.
Little has been said about the rebels of Eastern Libya - No, they are not the loving kind-hearted simple folks as the media might have tried to portray them as. Eastern Libya has produced more Al-Qaeda operatives and anti-American terrorist wannabes than perhaps any other nation.
Forget the fact that interfering in another country's affairs is morally wrong, pretend that we don't really care and don't mind taking sides while other countries next door to Libya can indiscriminately kill protesters and civilians, let's pretend that we don't know anything about these. We fought Afghanistan because they harboured the Al-Qaeda and now we help Eastern Libyan rebels who, harbours no less hatred for the West and have worked side by side with the Taliban for years. How can that make sense ?
Yes, some of you'll say - it's all good, we helped "civilians in need". Trust me, if America were this compassionate, then we'd not have let genocides in Rwanda, oppression in Burma and insanely brutal actions in Darfur go on unheeded. Time and again and again, History has shown us that in such cases things backfire. Ghaddafi was aided into power by the West, just as we had empowered the Taliban and none other than Mr. Saddam Hussein's army. How long will it take us to learn from the past ? (And, no, the Arabs are not supporting us, no matter what the generals and all their cronies will say.)
I'm deeply saddened and disillusioned with the belligerent and senseless hasty decision taken by the President who once won hearts through his messages of Peace. Perhaps he longed to feel how it was like to be a War President, and in doing so, has lost the respect he had once earned.

Raj of CT 5:22PM March 22, 2011