Buy every impoverished American child a lifetime of nice dinners

For the price of the Iraq War, we could buy every impoverished American child a lifetime of dinners at Trudy's, a Tex-Mex restaurant in Austin, Texas.  

According to recent census data, there are 13.3 million American children in poverty.  If we assume that these children will each live an average of 70 more years, they will jointly consume a total of 340 billion dinners over the rest of their lives.  

The enchilada plate at Trudy's, which I would often order with chipotle sauce over mushrooms and pinto beans, costs $7.95.  At this price, we could buy every American child a lifetime of dinners for $2.70 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Photo credit: Patrick Meredith, Austin-American Statesman

Buy every US adult who wants to attack Iran their weight in marijuana

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought every American adult who wants to attack Iran their weight in marijuana.

According to a November 2007 Gallup poll, 18% of Americans favored military action against Iran, while 73% favored relying on economic and diplomatic efforts. There are 225 million American adults, so this means that 40 million Americans favor military action. The average American adult weighs slightly under 180 lbs, so 7.2 billion pounds of Americans support military action against Iran.

In 2005, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimated retail marijuana prices at $2783 per pound.  Buying all American adults who want to attack Iran their weight in marijuana would cost $2.00 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Image used under a Creative Commons License from dey.

Cure all malaria for 2000 years

For the price of the Iraq War, we could cure all cases of malaria for the next two thousand years. 

Each year, there are 515 million cases of malaria, causing 1 to 3 million deaths and contributing to poverty in many developing countries.  If the rate of malaria infection were to stay constant even as we treat every case for the next 2000 years, we would have to treat 1.03 trillion cases of the disease.

Artemisinin therapies, which are used to treat the disease now that the malaria parasite is resistant to chloroquine and some mosquitos are resistant to DDT, cost $2.20 for a course of treatment. Treating 2000 years of malaria would cost $2.27 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War. 

Image used under a Creative Commons License from otisarchives2.

Give every woman in Afghanistan as many servants as John McCain

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've given every woman in Afghanistan as many American servants as John McCain.

In 2007, John McCain spent $273,000 on household employees (for example, the caretaker of one of his homes in Sedona). 8.4 million women over 15 live in Afghanistan. Giving each of these women their own McCain-sized retinue of household employees would cost $2.3 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Give the residents of CA, NY, TX, and FL their weight in silver

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've given the residents of California, New York, Texas, and Florida their weight in silver.

California, New York, Texas, and Florida are the four most populated states in America, with a total population of 98 million people.  If the average resident of these states weighs 150 lbs (lighter than the average American adult, but much heavier than most children), the total weight of these states' population is 14.7 billion pounds.

Silver is currently valued at $13.33 per ounce.  There are 14.6 troy ounces in a pound.  So buying the residents of these four states their weight in silver would cost $2.86 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Image used under a Creative Commons License from RickyDavid.

Supply the British with tea for ten thousand years

For the price of the Iraq War, we could satisfy the British thirst for tea for the next ten thousand years.  

The British lead the world in per capita tea consumption, with the average Briton consuming 2.3 kilograms of tea per year, enough to make 766 cups.  Since there are nearly 60 million people in Britain, total British tea consumption runs to 140 million kg.

The global average wholesale price of tea is $1.95 per kg (link).   So satisfying British tea demand for the next ten thousand years would cost $2.7 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Image used under a Creative Commons License from fisserman.

Trap Osama in Afghanistan with a giant wall of $100 bills

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've trapped Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan by surrounding the country with a 100-foot wall made entirely of hundred-dollar bills.

Afghanistan's borders are 5529 kilometers long. Since a hundred dollar bill (like all of today's paper money) is 156 mm long, it would take 35.4 million of them to surround Afghanistan. Since a hundred dollar bill is 2.61 inches tall, it would take 460 of them to make the wall 100 feet tall. This means it would take 16.3 billion bills to create a 100-foot wall around Afghanistan. Given the face value of each bill, surrounding Afghanistan and Osama in a giant wall of Benjamins would cost $1.63 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Set up a century of Bush voters vs. Axis of Evil in World of Warcraft

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've let all 2004 Bush voters and everyone 15 or over in the 'Axis of Evil' play World of Warcraft together for a century.  

62,040,610 Americans voted for George W. Bush in 2004.  About 16.2 million residents of Iraq, 51.2 million residents of Iran, and 17.9 million residents of North Korea are at least 15 years old.  This adds up to 147.3 million players.  At $40 every two years for a startup or expansion disk and $15 per month, they could play for a century for $2.95 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Paint the light side of the moon red

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought enough paint to paint the light side of the moon red.  

The moon has a surface area of 14,645,750 square miles.  It is in synchronous rotation with the Earth, meaning that the same half of it faces the Earth at all times.  Since a square mile is 27,878,400 square feet (that's 5280 feet squared)  the light side of the moon is 204 trillion square feet.  

LTX Bright Red Enamel paint, by Valspar, covers 400 square feet per gallon.  So we would need 510 billion gallons of it to cover the light side of the moon.  At the current price of $5.49 per gallon, we could paint the light side of the moon for $2.80 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.

Image adapted under a Creative Commons License from jahdakinebrah.

Buy everyone in Akron properties like John McCain's nine houses

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought everybody in Akron, Ohio a group of nine properties worth as much as John McCain's nine houses and condominiums.

Akron, Ohio has 207,934 residents.  As of March 18, 2008, the McCain family owned nine dwellings -- two condos in Arizona, three beachfront condos in California, three ranches in Arizona, and a high-rise condo in Virginia.  (This does not include their rental property.  In addition, estimates of the total number of homes on their Arizona ranches run from four to six.) These nine properties were valued at a total of $13,123,269.  Buying everybody in Akron a series of properties worth this much money would cost $2.73 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.