A Tomahawk Missile cost $569,000 in FY99, so if my calculations are correct, they cost a little over $736,000 today assuming they are the same make and model. The United States fired 110 missiles yesterday, which adds up to a cost of around $81 million. That's twice the size of the annual budget of USIP [US Institute of Peace], which the House of Representatives wants to de-fund, and is about 33 times the amount of money National Public Radio receives in grants each year from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which the House of Representatives also wants to de-fund in the name of austerity measures.I would add that here in my part of the world, Gov Corbett of Pennsylvania has recently proposed to cut state funding for my alma mater, Temple University, by about $80 million, which is what the US spent on a single night of bombing in Libya. Certainly, I regret the onogoing plight of innocent Libyans and others in the Arab world. However, I likewise regret that Temple University is having to endure a 50% cut in its public funding during these difficult times in America. A national debate regarding the endless costs of war to US taxpayers is urgently needed.
Source: Center for a New American Security
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