Syria Presence Costing The Pentagon About $27 Million A Week

[marmar]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/12/syria-pentagon_n_3916416.html?ncid=txtlnkushpmg00000037


WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is spending about $27 million a week to maintain the increased U.S. Navy presence in the Mediterranean Sea and Middle East region to keep watch over Syria and be prepared to strike if needed.

President Barack Obama told the nation he ordered the military to maintain its current posture to keep pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad and be in a position to respond if diplomacy fails.

The Navy has two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region and four destroyers and an amphibious warship in the eastern Mediterranean. One carrier group and one destroyer had been scheduled to leave but were told to stay.

Navy officials say it costs about $25 million a week for the carrier group and $2 million a week for each destroyer.

[pscot]

1. I wonder what the CO2 footprint is

Big ships burn thousands of tons of oil.

[HooptieWagon]

6. Carriers are nuclear-powered.

[Glassunion]

9. I hear destroyers run on Unicorn Farts

So we're all good.

[HooptieWagon]

12. Yep.

...and they burn the same amount steaming circles in the Med as they do steaming circles in the Indian Ocean. I'm fine with the Navy, as long as they ain't dropping missles and bombs on civilians.

[Glassunion]

13. I'm more pissed that we are steaming circles anywhere besides off our own coast

All else is a multi-billion dollar pissing contest.

[pscot]

10. Yeah, but have you ever seen one alone?

[indepat]

2. Wonder how the Republicans will demand this $27 million a week be paid for

[classysassy]

3. Wars for profit

The war racketeers think we should buy weapons of war and feed the poor Reagan Soup (ketchup & water).

[Rosa Luxemburg]

4. Yet we the taxpayers are being screwed

Syria is a storm in a teacup over a pipeline. I don't want to have to pay for all of this out of my taxes!

[kenny blankenship]

5. No worries! They are the most fearsome fighting force ever assembled!

I'm pretty sure that with all their firepower, they can handle a raid on the Social Security Trust Fund.

[The Straight Story]

7. We would not be paying for those things anyways? How is it a new cost?

You can breakdown the cost per ship per year and then say "It costs X for them to be at Y location" but it does not mean much.

Anyone have a breakdown of addition costs that were not already being incurred from normal operations?

[HooptieWagon]

14. Its probably pretty close to same.

The carriers might be operating more flights is all...thats a bit more fuel and wear and tear on the aircraft.

[Glassunion]

8. But having Wolf Blitzer foaming at the mouth in the situation room

is priceless.

[Motown_Johnny]

11. I hate obvious math errors.

Why should anyone pay attention to people who make such ridiculous errors?


"Navy officials say it costs about $25 million a week for the carrier group and $2 million a week for each destroyer".


$25 million for each carrier group and $2 million for each destroyer.

That is not $27 million a week. That would be $58 million a week.



A quick Google search turns up other numbers, and one more GLARING Error! The numbers are for keeping these ships deployed beyond their scheduled deployment.



http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/12/pentagon-4-destroyers-aircraft-carrier-remain-near/


^snip^


Navy officials said it would cost at least $2 million per week to keep a destroyer extended beyond a scheduled deployment and between $25 to $40 million per week to extend a carrier strike group, depending on the tempo of operations.

If costs continue beyond the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, the Navy will have to take actions to absorb extra costs, such as requesting supplemental funding from Congress, borrowing from the last quarter of the fiscal 2014 budget or taking funds from another program.

The Pentagon pushed back against the idea that costs would affect any operations regarding Syria.

[HooptieWagon]

15. It costs money just keeping them at the dock.

Its not like you park em, turn off the key, and every goes off the clock.

I don't have a problem with a naval exercise for the boys and gals, as long as they don't launch missles or drop bombs.

[Comrade Grumpy]

17. Well, maybe we could downsize that Navy.

There are other things we could be doing with $25 million a week besides having ships cruising around in circles.

[grahamhgreen]

16. No, war is free, I read it here!

[Ron Green]

18. War is a money-maker, like college football.

...right??