CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

The Growing Problems of Operation Epic Fury

Photograph Source: U.S. Army Photo – Public Domain

The big drain on military resources has begun.  A war apparently already won (and not), against an adversary supposedly without means to fight back, its air force and navy destroyed, its missile capabilities blunted, is now drawing the clumsy colossus of American power into the Middle East with embarrassing effect.  The Middle East, where US President Donald Trump promised the “forever wars” would end, promises an end to his beginning.

The ledger of losses keeps rising with giddying pace.  The US casualty list, for now, remains manageably low, but the military purse is being raided with manic relish.  Operation Epic Fury cost US taxpayers $11.3 billion in munitions over the first six days, an estimate that excludes operating and maintenance costs of the engaged military force or the damage inflicted by Iran.  The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) claims that the first 100 hours of the war cost $3.7 billion, approximating to $891.4 million each day.

Strain is also being placed on inventories.  The US prides itself on deluxe, high brand killing and extermination of targets, using chic weaponry and dull doctrine.  Expensive homicidal measures do have to be eventually accounted for.  According to reporting from Bloomberg, “as the conflict extends toward a third week, the US war effort is showing unexpected signs of strain against an adversary whose military budget is smaller than the GDP of Vermont – but which has an arsenal of missiles and drones unlike anything the US has ever faced.”

Critical munitions are being........

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