Early on in the Libya War, there were reports that the NATO allies were running short of those bombs. We haven't run out, so we obviously made do. Strategypage mentions the shortage:
The air campaign in Libya has depleted the smart bomb inventories of some participants. Only eight of 28 NATO nations are participating, with France and Britain dropping most of the bombs. Even so, Denmark and Norway recently exhausted their supplies and are receiving additional smart bombs from Germany, which has not taken part in the Libya operation. The U.S. is also believed to have helped out some other nations who are running low.
Some 2,000 smart bombs have been used in Libya so far.
Wow, only 2,000 used and the shortages started months ago. How many of those 2,000 were US, I wonder?
All that talk about "responsibility to protect (R2P)" will founder when the parliaments of European democracies discover the price of buying the smart bombs that allow intervention without killing off the people you are supposed to protect with off-target dumb bombs.
Of course, that R2P talk would just kill NATO, so the purchasing debate might be moot.
