The US-led military strike on Iraq, launched March 20, 2003, has up to now cost Israel at least $200 million. War expenditures for the Jewish state include the cost of security buildup—$110 million for the draft of 11,000 reserve soldiers—and production losses, $64.3 million in the first two days of the war alone.
Another $17.1 million were lost when the Israeli Home Front Command ordered residents to open their gas-mask kits. As a result, a large-scale and expensive logistic operation will be required once hostilities are over to collect the millions of gas masks, check them, replace the filters, repack and redistribute them.
According to Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot these preliminary cost estimates do not include the outlay for smallpox vaccinations for soldiers and emergency personnel or for sealing public buildings with plastic sheeting. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
