Danielle Kurtzleben
Estimates suggest each Tomahawk missile fired costs $1.1 million
With Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn already underway in
U.S. forces joined an international coalition in strikes against Libyan targets. The international community
undertook the operation to forestall air attacks against Libyan rebel forces by Col.
Earlier this month, before the strikes began, the
Some of the operation's costs thus far can be easily estimated. In December, the
But much of the operation's total cost is a function of how long the international coalition enforces the no-fly zone.
The question, then, is how long such the current no-fly zone might be enforced. Past experience shows that no-fly zones can have a broad range of life spans.
Harrison and Cooper extrapolated their cost estimate out over six months, though Cooper notes that they were not trying to accurately guess the length of the operation. "We just wanted to show that the costs that matter in the longer term are the fuel costs and the cost of the no-fly zone coverage. We weren't suggesting that this operation might last six months," he says.
Using the midpoint of Harrison and Cooper's cost estimate for a six-month limited no-fly zone,
A
- 0.3 percent of the
- 1.9 percent of Defense's 2012 budget request for operations in
- Slightly greater than the 2 billion in U.S. aid to
- Just over half of the total money spent (
- 6.2 percent of the GDP of
- Roughly equal to the annual GDP of
- Nearly 43,000 times the U.S. median income of
- 0.3 percent of the initially projected
- 0.1 percent of the estimated annual federal deficit (
- 0.06 percent of President Obama's proposed
- 44 times bigger than the
- 4.4 percent of
- Nearly 11 times the 2011 payroll of the
(Sources:
- What Happened to the American Declaration of War?
- The Power of Giving Back
- Safety on the Cheap
- Egyptian Elections: the Sooner, the Better
- The Libyan Question: What Now?
- Obama's 'Goldilocks' Doctrine
- War Number Three
- Un-Unified Oppositions in Bahrain and Yemen
- Japanese Earthquake Brings Back Sad Memories
- 5 Reasons Investors Should Not Bail on Japan
- Japan's Nuclear Crisis Reignites Safety Debate
- Military Involvement in Libya Costs Taxpayers Millions
- United Nations Relevance
- A Mother's Confession on Mothers' Day
- Middle East Crisis: Today's Events in the Middle East
- World's Costliest Disaster
- Japan Crisis: Video Reports 3/23/2011
- Israeli-Palestinian Tensions Escalating
- Israel Faces a Culture of Hatred and Violence
- Yemen in Crisis: A Special Report
- Libya, the West and the Narrative of Democracy
- Libya Crisis: Video Reports 3/22/2011
- Japan Crisis: Video Reports 3/22/2011
- Libya Crisis: Video Reports 3/20/2011
- Libya Crisis: Implications of the Cease-Fire
- The Libyan War of 2011
- Libyan Forces Approach Benghazi
- Taming Chaos with a Personal Plan
- The Threat to Israel From the 'New' Middle East
- The United States Finds Itself on the Outside Looking In
- Egypt and Tunisia Could Learn From Chile's Transition
- Japan's Crisis for Nuclear Power
- Chernobyl's Lessons for Japan
- Pakistan: Bad Investment for the United States
- Iran and the Saudis' Countermove on Bahrain
- Japan, the Persian Gulf and Energy
- Radiation Rising and Heading South in Japan
- Japanese Government Confirms Meltdown
- Bahrain and the Battle Between Iran and Saudi Arabia
- Officials Claim Positive Signs on Japanese Reactor
- Nuclear Meltdown at Quake-Damaged Japanese Plant
- U.S. Geologists Explain Science Behind Japanese Earthquake
- The Slow Decline of North America
- Will Libya Again Become the Arsenal of Terrorism?
- How a Libyan No-fly Zone Could Backfire
- Superpower Obligations
- Caught in the Middle East Minefield
- You Cannot Kill an Idea
- Democracy Must Be the Future of the Middle East
- Arab Revolutions Need Not Be Americanized
- 'New Chapter' in the Middle East
- Embarrassing Times for Al Qaeda
- Western Intervention in Libya Should Not Fly
- Yemen: Divided Dissent
- Egypt: The Road Ahead
- Egypt: First Steps
- That Other Middle East Protest
- Arab World's Obsession With Israel Is Fading
- Time to Rethink Arab Arms Sales
- Cote d'Ivoire: Power Gridlock
- UK - Latin American Relations: Rearranging The Deckchairs
- Mexico: Cracking Down
- Ireland: A Work In Progress
- WikiLeaks: Unsteady Drip
- How al Qaeda Works
- Fighting the Laws of War
- A Politically 'Comatose' Middle East Awakens
- New Regimes in Arab World Could Highlight American Hypocrisy
- Egypt in Danger of Becoming America's Greatest Middle East Enemy
- Middle East Unrest Spreads to Libya
- The Tunisia Effect
- The Arab Revolt
- Far East and Middle East: A Study in Contrasts?
- Iraq: From Surge to Sovereignty
- Freedom Fever
- Revolution and the Muslim World
- Discovering Fire
- A Truth More Powerful Than an Army
- Egypt's Dim Future
- Demographics of Arab Protests
- In New Arab World United States Cannot Straddle Fence Much Longer
- The Wealth Gap Around the World
- Revisionist History of Bush Democracy Agenda Doesn't Hold Up
- What the Egyptian Uprising Means for Investors
- The Real 'Realism' on Israel
- Egypt: The Distance Between Enthusiasm and Reality
- Egypt Revolt Part of a Long History of Uprisings
- Hope Amid the Chaos in Cairo
- Egypt's Uphill Economic Struggles
- The United States - Egypt Breakup: Washington's Limited Options in Cairo
- Egypt a 'Textbook' Foreign Policy Dilemma
- Egypt's Widening Discontent
- Egypt Aflame
- Obama Meets Foreign Policy Test in Egypt
- Tunisia: Moment in the Sun
- Hunger Fuels Discontent in Middle East
- No Justice, No Peace
- American-Israeli Policy To Be Tested By Arab Uprisings
- Israel, Turkey and Iran: Neighbourly Strain
- Israel: Testing Times
- Syria: Washington's New Direction
- Russia: A 21st Century Alliance?
- Tunisia's Lessons for Repressive Regimes
- Tunisia: A Popular Uprising But Then What?
- Unrest in Tunisia and Ivory Coast Send Tremors Through Africa
- Top Global Risks of 2011
- Gulf States Should Take a DIY Approach With Iran
- Back to 'Normal' in the Middle East
- A Third Way to Palestine - Fayyadism and Its Discontents
- The Dangers of a Nuclear Iran
- A Wave of Christianophobia
- Iran: Glow, Little Glow Worm, Glow
- For Middle East Peace, Israel Must Prepare for Nuclear War
- Iran Nuclear Talks: A Widening Chasm
- A World Full of Fault Lines
- Facebook, Twitter and the Search for Peace in the Middle East
- Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy: Limits of Being Helpful
- Iraq Refugees: Seeking Safety
Available at Amazon.com:
Aftermath: Following the Bloodshed of America's Wars in the Muslim World
Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East (The Contemporary Middle East)
The End of History and the Last Man
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
The Tragedy of Great Power Politics
The End of the Free Market: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations?
Running Out of Water: The Looming Crisis and Solutions to Conserve Our Most Precious Resource
Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water
Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization
At War with the Weather: Managing Large-Scale Risks in a New Era of Catastrophes
Friendly Fire: Losing Friends and Making Enemies in the Anti-American Century
Dining With al-Qaeda: Three Decades Exploring the Many Worlds of the Middle East
Uprising: Will Emerging Markets Shape or Shake the World Economy
Copyright 2011, U.S. News & World Report