Mid-East Musings

A few thoughts on the so-called Middle East.

So a US F-15 has crashed due to mechanical failure today. The pilot was saved naturally. I'd like to continue the tally of cost on this 'mission'. So there are two models of F-15. I expect the more expensive one comes with air conditioning and power locks, possibly all-wheel drive. We can't tell which it is from the pictures.

The cost of this fighter breaks down like this. And don't forget inflation which I have calculated for:

F-15A/B: US$27.9 million (1998) = $37,880,497 in 2011 dollars
F-15C/D: US$29.9 million (1998) = $40,595,945 in 2011 dollars

So that makes a grand total of around $120,000,000 including those tomahawk missiles.

Just in: the Coalition of the Willing (now with Romania!) has fired 160 tomahawk missiles thus far. I'm going to stop keeping track of these expenses now as this is a stupid exercise.

Needless to say there's no cuts planned to the military but we are apparently broke.

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Incidentally, can Libya box up that fighter and send it back to the US with a bill? Seriously arguably this is littering on a grand scale. And I'm sure that the fighter is full of toxic materials. I somehow doubt it.

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I love these dictators holding meetings and ranting on. Just saw Yemen's decrepit 'President' barking and snarling at the head of a mammoth table. Imagine being there. Do these guys take themselves seriously? Oh yeah, the torture. They are serious.