Robert Greenwald, HuffPo: Not Worth It: First Day of Libya Strikes Cost More Than $100 Million

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Not Worth It: First Day of Libya Strikes Cost More Than $100 Million

Robert Greenwald

Filmmaker, Brave New Films
Posted: March 21, 2011 04:32 PM



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-greenwald/not-worth-it-first-day-of_b_838659.html

President Obama's decision to participate in the strikes in Libya has already cost U.S. taxpayers "well over $100 million," according to the National Journal. The Journal also relayed that, "the initial stages of taking out Libya's air defenses could ultimately cost...coalition forces between $400 million and $800 million." The administration launched this new war (and yes, it is a war) with no official congressional authorization, little public debate and with a vague, possibly even non-existent, endgame in mind. It's as if the lessons of the last decade are completely lost on policymakers in the United States.

Congress and the president should be ending the wars we were already in, not starting new ones in new Arab countries where even the hint of civilian casualties could quickly set fire to a bonfire of anti-U.S. sentiment. For example:

"A day after a summit meeting in Paris set the military operation in motion, a vital Arab participant in the agreement expressed unhappiness with the way the strikes were unfolding. The former chairman of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, told Egyptian state media that he was calling for an emergency league meeting to discuss the situation in the Arab world, and particularly Libya.

"'What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians,' he said, referring to Libyan government claims that allied bombardment had killed dozens of civilians. "

[ananda]

1. non huffpo link

http://rethinkafghanistan.com/blog/2011/03/not-worth-it-first-day-of-libya-strikes-cost-more-than-100-million/

[pberq]

4. try this one

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-greenwald/not-worth-it-first-day-of_b_838659.html

[ReggieVeggie]

7. Greenwald published this article on Huff Post

I guess he doesn't have a problem writing and publishing on Huff Post

[pberq]

2. What's another $400 - $800 million?

The hypocrisy is overwhelming. We, the common citizens have to make sacrifices while they waste hundreds of billions on yet another illegal war.

[dennis4868]

3. I am sure if this was the 1940s Greenwald....

would write....not worth saving jews from the ovens, it costs ...... a day!

[ReggieVeggie]

5. what the fuck is up with you?

No rational argument so you just resort to ad hominem? What bullshit.

[dennis4868]

6. what the fuck...

is up with liberals who are against a humanitarian mission just because Obama is for it?

[ReggieVeggie]

8. straw man

"just because Obama is for it" Really? Is that the way you think?

[dennis4868]

9. yep....

that's the way I think about the PL and many liberal bloggers....for sure!

[ReggieVeggie]

11. so you're saying you're not liberal then

But, really, that's the way you think of people who disagree with you.

[pberq]

13. "humanitarian mission"?????

It amazes me how gullible people can be. You really think the main reason for the invasion is humanitarian??
Check out what Alan Grayson says here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x594023

And what about all the innocent civilians being killed in these bombing strikes? How does that fit in with this so-called humanitarian mission?

[dennis4868]

15. If you think this has anything to other...

than a humanitarian mission you are insane....if Obama did not jump in thousands would be dead now in Libya....I really don't care what a one term losing congressman has to say....

[pberq]

16. Here's another way of looking at it:

http://tarpley.net/2011/03/19/obamas-bay-of-pigs-in-libya/

. . .The alleged purpose of the bombing was to establish a no-fly zone and to protect a force of CIA-sponsored Libyan rebels composed of the Moslem Brotherhood, elements of the Libyan government and army subverted by the CIA (including such sinister figures as former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil and former Interior Minister Fattah Younis), and monarchist Senussi tribesmen holding the cities of Benghazi and Tobruk. But twin Friday ultimatums by President Obama and British premier Cameron, plus a speech by Harper, made clear that the goal was the ouster of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi and regime change in the North African oil-producing nation, whose proven reserves of crude are the largest on that continent.

Prospects for military success are uncertain, despite the apparent NATO preponderance. No clear military objective has been articulated, and disagreements about the scope of the war are likely. If Qaddafi’s tanks and infantry are engaged in house to house battles with the rebels in cities like Bengazi and Tobruk, it will be hard for NATO to bring its air superiority to bear without massacring large numbers of civilians.

[dennis4868]

17. I love the conspiracy theorist here....

It allows me to have a laugh even on a boring day....hahaha!

[pberq]

18. Yes, and everything you hear on the MSM is nothing but the whole truth

Seriously, this is Democratic Underground.
We generally acknowledge that the rosy-colored version of events presented by the corporate media is just so much propaganda.

[democracy1st]

20. Wow!

[meow mix]

14. +rec i dont know whats wrong with them

other than they like to watch massacres

[Poll_Blind]

10. My word, can you GET any more offensive?

:shrug:

PB

[Swede]

12. Very similar,isn't it?

Save money,too bad for Benghazi.

[Bluenorthwest]

21. WW2 was not fought to save the Jews, in fact, if you read you

will find that the camps were not a priority to the allies.

[ReggieVeggie]

23. how is it this post has not been deleted?

What a ridiculously outrageous thing to say, especially about a Jew!

[democracy1st]

19. 100 million bucks, this admin is now officially part of the group trying to defund social programs1

[Major Hogwash]

22. $100 million dollars is peanuts, Mr. Greenwald. How much does freedom cost for Libya?

A $100 million dollars.
That's all.

Bill Gates made that much when he took a 3 hour nap on Sunday afternoon!

[bhikkhu]

24. That's about 33 cents per capita. I'm in.

The immediate issue was the army parked outside the city of Benghazi - 600,000 people - and Gadhafi's promise to show "no mercy, no pity". I don't think anyone doubts that the city would be rubble by now and we'd be guessing at what happened to all the people who lived there, if the French and US hadn't turned them around.

I don't know how the whole thing will play out, and I hope it works according to plan - where we hand off much of our role to more interested regional parties. In any case, it was done as a humanitarian mission to preempt a promised bloodbath, and it worked. Its difficult to see people complain that it was too expensive, or that the people weren't worth it based on suspected association or whatever else.

I can understand anxiety about the whole thing, but that's what we get anyway - times are unsettled and its hard to predict what will happen anywhere.

[vicarofrevelwood]

25. Why does anyone even bother,

With this Rag any way.