As war clouds continue to gather in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Washington Post reports that a fifth U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer has joined the small but very powerful American task force in the open waters off the Syrian coast. The cost to the American taxpayer is building as fast as our small armada in the area.
Leaving her home port of Norfolk, Va., almost two weeks ago, the USS Stout has joined her sister warships, the USS Mahan, Barry, Ramage and Gravely in launching a possible missile strike against the regime of Syrian leader Bashir al-Assad.
“Just in Missiles Alone …”
In what would legally be a state of war between the United States and the Syrian Arab Republic, the cost to the taxpayers just in missiles alone could be in the neighborhood of $234,900,000.
The cost of feeding the sailors deployed, fuel oil for the ships, and the thousands of others of gears that keep any military machine in working order, the ultimate cost to the American people could easily top $1 billion for even a limited strike.
If and when a Tomahawk assault is launched, the actual number of munitions used is not readily available to the American people, yet a solid gauge would be the 2011 US/UK cruise missile strikes used against the former dictator of Libya, Colonel Mummar Khaddafi, a total of 162 Tomahawks were expended.
At a cost of approximately $1,450,000 each, the rough price tag of anything even close to the numbers used in Libya will cost the American workers $234,900,000.
37, 32, 0.5 …
With both the Germans and the British taking a pass at joining in with Obama in any military action against Assad, the only other nation that he possibly could count on would be the French, who have only given half-hearted support to military intervention.
Under the leadership of President George W. Bush, the Coalition of the Willing was comprised of 37 sovereign nations who provided troops to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
During the administration of President George H.W. Bush, 32 nations comprised the Allied Coalition fighting to dislodge Saddam Hussein from the Emirate of Kuwait in 1991.
