Saddam or Gaddafi, who cost the United States more? It’s not much of a comparison, in terms of dollars or casualties for Americans.

 

President George W. Bush’s decision to invade to Iraq in 2003—first to eliminate non-existent weapons of mass destruction, then to take out Saddam Hussein—drained more than $800 billion in military spending alone from the U.S. Treasury over a period of more than eight years. It has also killed 4,479 American soldiers and wounded another 30,182. In addition, 468 U.S. contractors have died in Iraq.

 

President Barack Obama’s move to help oust Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi only required four months, during which the Department of Defense spent $1.1 billion. The conflict did not kill or wound any American troops, since none were deployed to fight. Two U.S. journalists did die in Libya. Photographers Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington (dual U.S.-U.K. citizenship) were killed by Gaddafi’s forces on April 20.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

For the U.S., War Against Qaddafi Cost Relatively Little: $1.1 Billion (by Kevin Baron, The Atlantic)

Iraq: Lives, Time, And Money -- How Much Did The Iraq War Cost America? (by David Badash, New Civil Rights Movement)