Pentagon: Air war against ISIL has cost $5.5 billion
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Oriana Pawlyk, Air Force Times
The air war against the Islamic State group has cost American taxpayers $5.5 billion, or roughly $11.2 million per day, a $2 million increase since June, according to the latest Defense Department data. The Air Force accounts for $3.75 billion — nearly 70% — of that cost, about $7.7 million a day since the U.S. began launching airstrikes in August 2014. More than 50% of the cost accounts for daily flight operating
tempo: The Air Force in 2015, for example, conducted 21,000
sorties over Iraq and The last two months have also seen an increase in airstrikes:
In November and December, the Air Force for the first time
during “By the time we get to the end of 2016, I hope to be pretty
well done with Daesh (the Islamic State group, also known as
ISIL or ISIS),” Lt. Gen. Charles Brown Jr, commander of U.S. Air
Forces Central Command, recently told Most recently, the U.S.-led coalition on Monday blew up a warehouse in Iraq where the Islamic State held millions of dollars in cash, a defense official confirmed Tuesday. In November, Inherent Resolve spokesman Army Col. The U.S. and its allies increased their targeting of the militant group's surplus following the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, which killed 129 people. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks. "This is our first strike against tanker trucks, and to minimize risks to civilians, we conducted a leaflet drop prior to the strike," Warren said Nov. 18. "We did a show of force by, we had aircraft essentially buzz the trucks at low altitude." (c) Copyright 2015 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. To subscribe or visit go to: www.usatoday.com |