Gates on Libya Costs

The U.S. military's intervention in Libya has so far cost roughly $750 million, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this morning.

Noting Congress routinely pays for cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through the overseas contingency operations account -- which the House Armed Services Committee voted yesterday to fund at a level of $118 billion in fiscal year 2012 -- Gates said the Defense Department is having to pay for operations in Libya out of hide.

"In the case of Libya, unfortunately, we're fundamentally having to eat that one," Gates said at Camp Lejeune, NC. "And so it's probably at this point somewhere in the ballpark of $750 million, and we'll find the money. But in terms of our operations overseas, the budgetary problems that the country is facing and the deficit I think will not have an impact in terms of funding the operations that we're in."

With the exception of some rebel leaders in Libya, U.S. officials do not know who the rebels are, Gates said, adding, "And I think this is one of the reasons why there has been such a reluctance, at least on our part, to provide any kind of lethal assistance to the opposition."