Todd Harrison, a budget analyst, estimated a higher total, with a week-long strike costing between $500 million and $1 billion. The total would depend on the selected targets, bombs and the delivery methods used.
The United States cannot be indifferent to the outcome of the Syrian conflict and the use of chemical weapons cannot go without a response, former Ambassador Eric Edelman tells Newsmax.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told lawmakers a limited military strike to deter Syria from using chemical weapons would likely cost tens of millions of dollars, but if past experience is a guide, the number could be substantially higher than that.
The potential U.S. military strike in Syria is raising moral and political quandaries for Washington. Does it raise a fiscal problem as well?
The Pentagon can absorb the cost of a limited strike on Syria, defense officials and analysts say, but a longer, more involved engagement could collide with financial constraints as the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year approaches.
Media reports indicate the United States and its allies could begin retaliatory air strikes against Syria as early as Thursday morning.
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