With US and coalition forces bombarding Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi’s forces from the sea and air, the cost for the first day alone of the operation was well over $100 million (€70.3m) with the total price tag expected to grow much higher the longer the strikes continue, analysts said.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been the square-jawed face of war, the man behind the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that he predicted were just the beginnings of a long, hard slog.