Top Democrats say Pentagon won’t provide costs of Caribbean, Venezuela operations

MS.NOW -  Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the ranking Democrats on the House and Senate Armed Services committees, told MS NOW that the Pentagon has declined to answer repeated requests from congressional oversight committees for the cost of U.S. military operations in Venezuela and the Caribbean.

Smith said Democrats estimate that the price tag is in the “$800 million range” for the boats strikes in the Caribbean that have killed more than 100 people and a U.S. military buildup in the region that began in August. One Democratic lawmaker and a senior Democratic Hill aide pegged the cost of the operation to arrest former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro at $500 million. Together, those operations would be nearing the $1 billion range if Democratic estimates are accurate.

Smith vowed to continue to push for the exact cost of the operations. “We can’t get a clear answer on that,” he said. The Pentagon “mostly just dismisses it saying it isn’t costing anything. Our troops and equipment have to be somewhere and they just happen to be off the coast of Venezuela blowing up some small boats. We are pressing for a clear answer.”