US bill for Libya operation tops $600M

The cost of Washington’s role in military intervention in Libya has surpassed $600 million, a Pentagon official told The Hill.

“DoD has reported projected costs through April 4 of about $608 million for the Libyan operations,” the official said in a Tuesday email.

{mosads}The U.S. military ran up a $500 million bill in the opening weeks of the operation while it was doing the heavy lifting of taking out Libyan air defense systems, which included lobbing hundreds of cruise missiles and performing even more hundreds of air combat missions.

The U.S. last month took a backseat in the operation, with NATO taking over command. 

The new cost figures are in line with Pentagon officials’ statements that the U.S. military will take on costs of about $40 million per month while it remains in its supporting role.