U.S. cost for Libya war exceeds estimates: $750 million so far

On Friday the New York Times reported Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ statement that the new war in Libya has cost the U.S. $750 million so far, more than originally expected for a military campaign the departing Defense Secretary says he never imagined the U.S. would undertake. Costs through April 4 had been estimated at $600 million with continuing costs expected to be around $40 million per month.

Although we can’t find the money to pay for schools or teachers or Medicare or Medicaid, it seems like we never have a problem finding money for more high-tech weapons and the aviation fuel to deliver them to our newest targets.

As songwriter Phil Ochs said of another war, “If you want to stay, well, you have to pay, over a million dollars a day.”

And as Senator Everett Dirksen once said, “A million here, a million there, pretty soon you’re talking about some real money.”

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