For the price of the Iraq War, we could've rewarded every Afghan and Pakistani with fifteen times their income if people from either nation helped us capture Osama Bin Laden.
Pakistan has 165 million residents, and its annual per capita income is $1027. Afghanistan has 32 million residents, and its annual per capita income is $335. Rewarding the entire population of both countries with fifteen times their income for information leading to the capture of Osama Bin Laden would cost $2.70 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of over $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.
