Bartlett presses Sec. Gates on Libya costs
Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, who has become an outspoken critic of the U.S. involvement in Libya, pressed Defense Secretary Robert Gates at a hearing Thursday to offer clarity on who is leading the rebel forces fighting Moammar Gadhafi and also how much the effort, which began March 19, will cost American taxpayers.
“Are we now aiding and abetting the same organizations that we are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq?” asked Bartlett, a Western Maryland Republican who chairs the House Armed Services subcommittee on tactical air and land forces.
“To be honest, other than a relative handful of leaders, we don’t have vision into those who have risen against” Gadhafi, Gates said. “In a way, speaking of the quote-unquote opposition is a misnomer. It is very disparate. It is very scattered and probably each element has its own agenda.”
Bartlett, who has criticized Obama for not seeking congressional approval for launching the attacks in Libya – and who previously called the effort “an affront to the Constitution” – also pressed Gates on the cost of the Libyan effort. Bartlett introduced legislation, the “Protect America from U.S. Military Expenses in Libya Act,” that would require the administration to recommend budget cuts to offset the cost of the U.S. involvement in Libya.
“Many people feel that this is an unconstitutional and illegal war,” said Bartlett, who was speaking at a hearing of the full House Armed Services Committee. “But I think everyone agrees that the [cost] shouldn't be borne by taxpayers.” Bartlett asked Gates whether the administration could meet a June 1 deadline proposed in the bill to identify budget cuts.
Gates said the price tag on the Libyan engagement is currently about $550 million. And, as the U.S. shifts responsibility to NATO, he estimated the cost would run about $40 million a month. When Bartlett pressed him on the timeline to identify ways to cover that cost, Gates demurred.
“I'd have to consult with the White House,” he said.
Comments
Good for Bartlett. A true conservative in the Taft-Kirk-Buckley-Will-Paul Tradition. We have a phony lib who tries to please everybody as C of C. He can't even adhere to his own antiwar tradition of Debs, his CP fellow traveler Mom, King and McGovern. Most of the liberals in MD, including the Black Caucus Members, are pathetic hypocrites. They rightly piled on W Bush for his war misadventures, but give Obama a break for racist affirmative action reasons.
Posted by: diactic1 | March 31, 2011 11:20 AM
It's amazing a fossil like Bartlett can be in office for so long and in the majority, yet he is completely irrelevant.
Posted by: Eddie | March 31, 2011 11:26 AM
Bartlett is right. Why are we in Libya? Why do we have troops all over the world when we're so far in debt?
Posted by: leon | March 31, 2011 11:42 AM
Go Roscoe. I'm a moderate Dem but I think this Libyan operation is ill advised and wrong. We are already bogged down in Afghanistan and slowly pulling out of Iraq. the US should stop combat operations in Libyan and let the Europeans do the dirty work for once.
Posted by: Bluedawg | March 31, 2011 12:46 PM
Same Bartlett showed no concern for any of these issues during his Party's ballyhooed run-up to the Iraq war...Hmmmm I wonder why all the teabaggers and GOP blowhards never said a word during the Bush/Cheney debacle... as they exploded the national deficit with their giveaways to the corporate elite and their country club cronnies...
Posted by: PhoneyTeabags | March 31, 2011 2:46 PM