Air Force Spending $4 Million A Day For Libya War

WASHINGTON -- The Air Force secretary says the service has been spending about $4 million a day to keep 50 fighter jets and nearly 40 support aircraft in the Libya conflict, including the cost of munitions.

Secretary Michael Donley tells reporters that the Air Force has spent $75 million as of Tuesday morning on the war. He says the U.S. decision to end its combat strike role in the conflict will cut costs, but he could not say by how much.

He says the Air Force has spent close to $50 million on the relief effort for the Japan earthquake, including $40 million to evacuate between 5,000-6,000 U.S. personnel.

The total U.S. costs for the Libya air campaign as of March 28 were $550 million, not counting normal deployment spending.

Comments

[Richie MuadDib]

07:04 PM on 04/09/2011

We got money for war, but can't feed the poor...

- T. Shakur (poet, actor)

[shthar]

12:59 AM on 04/06/2011

Damn, we can get almost a year of this war for less than a week of the others.

Now that's eliminating waste!

[deatrix]

09:49 PM on 04/05/2011

In 1961, President Eisenhower said, “As we peer into society’s future, we – you and I, and our government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.”
The United States accounts for almost 50 percent of the world’s total military spending; yet our share of the world’s GDP is less than 25 percent. This official budget does not take into account money secretly allocated to the “black budgets” of the Pentagon, CIA and other clandestine operations.

We must all ask ourselves:

How can a nation that prides itself on government “of, for, and by the people,” justify hiding these black budget allocations from taxpayer scrutiny? How can a nation continue to prosper by ignoring its own long-term demise at the hands of a militarized economy?

If we want a real democracy to survive for generations to come, then we must demand extensive military reductions. We must demand a peaceful and sustainable path for our country and world at large. We must bring our soldiers home. We must protect ourselves from the tsunami that is building on Wall Street and in the halls of Washington.

John Perkins

[deatrix]

09:44 PM on 04/05/2011

“Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose.” -Eisenhower, 1961
It does not matter on what side of the political fence you sit during the current budget debates. The fact is if our leaders are not willing to take into account our over-dependence on a militarized economy and change it, we will never balance the budget. Our progeny will face an endless struggle to clean up the debris.
Each year the Department of Defense’s tidal wave grows more menacing. We witness countless billions allocated for weapons research and development; nuclear warheads; and the secret and often illegal activities of the CIA, NSA, FBI, Homeland Security and other “intelligence” agencies. We watch countries that are caught up in natural disasters and political upheavals and see how this “crisis elixir” attracts and profits predatory capitalists.

And they have the gall to do this under the guise of promoting democracy.

It is time for us to tell them they are exposed, we comprehend what they are really doing is reaping huge profits and making other nations their financial servants for generations to come. Meanwhile, at home, we face severe cutbacks in social services, transportation, health care etc
Now is the time for us to let our leaders know we are no longer duped by their rhetoric. We understand they cannot bring our financial house to order without significant reductions in military spending.

[bola47]

04:40 PM on 04/05/2011

the usa's greatest export--death from above

[shthar]

01:00 AM on 04/06/2011

You gotta love the classics.

[aleon]

04:37 PM on 04/05/2011

Keep up the good work O, love those campaign promises.

[DarkKarma]

04:22 PM on 04/05/2011

Sweet !

Another day of Hope and Change We Can Believe In !

[2tango]

04:17 PM on 04/05/2011

Isn't that a shame..??

[Dailykook]

04:15 PM on 04/05/2011

Chalk it up with the bailouts, iraq war, Afghan war...too big too fail?

[qirin]

04:00 PM on 04/05/2011

Funny how hawks evolve into doves. I just wonder where it will end. Will they become parakeets?

[planetjeffy]

04:37 PM on 04/05/2011

or gnats...so we can just swat them away

[Tim The Enchanter]

03:58 PM on 04/05/2011

That sounds like a lot. Guess how much the Air Force spends per day anyway?

$465 million. Every day.

[Pucifer]

03:48 PM on 04/05/2011

Guess this means a few more poor children will go without health care and a few more seniors without heating oil next winter.  Or maybe a lot more.

Guess it's time to go into arms dealing--there's always a place of honor waiting for merchants of death at the Obama table.

[Richie MuadDib]

07:09 PM on 04/09/2011

Just posted a Tupac quote nailing the same thought...money for war but can't feed the poor.

But Obama will bring change...next time.

[jsgaetano]

03:46 PM on 04/05/2011

That's it?
 
$4 million is like 30 seconds in one of the failed and fraud-based BushWars.

[Rude Monk]

03:43 PM on 04/05/2011

We need those money here at home to put bread on our table.Cut "defense" at fifty percent,not social safety nets.Soon we will experience food riots in the US,like in other banana republics.

[Progress2342]

03:43 PM on 04/05/2011

Sticking our nose into everyone's business as usual, and wasting our own money at the same time. Bob Englehart at the Hartford Courant in CT has a good take on this: http://blogs.courant.com/bob_englehart/2011/03/march-22-2011.html