Electrify America with wind for ten years

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've satisfied American electricity demand with wind power for ten years.  

In 2005, America used 3.82 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity.  In their 1996 paper "Alternative Windpower Ownership Structures: Financing Terms and Project Costs," Ryan Wiser and Edward Kahn of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory's Energy and Environment Division calculated that a properly financed wind farm at a good site could produce electricity at 3.69 cents/kwH, or 5.15 cents/KwH adjusting for inflation.  Supplying America with wind power for a decade at these prices would cost $1.97 trillion, or $1030 billion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Image used under a Creative Commons License from Flidais.

Buy every Iraqi woman the clothes that the Republicans bought Sarah Palin

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought each Iraqi woman the clothes and accessories that the Republican Party has bought Sarah Palin during her Vice Presidential run.  

According to 2005 estimates, there are 13.3 million women in Iraq.  The Republican Party recently made headlines by buying Sarah Palin over $150,000 of clothes and accessories during her run.  Providing every Iraqi woman with the clothes and accessories that Sarah Palin purchased would cost $2.0 trillion, $1 trillion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Buy a Tesla Roadster for everyone who graduates high school for the next five years

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought a Tesla Roadster for everyone who graduates high school for the next five years.  

The Tesla Roadster is an electric car capable of going from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds and traveling 220 miles without a recharge.  Its base price is $109,000.  In 2008, 3.3 million high school diplomas were awarded.  At this rate, 16.5 high school students will graduate over the next five years.  Buying each of them a Tesla Roadster would cost $1.80 trillion, which is $1.2 trillion less than  Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Cure five trillion cases of childhood pneumonia

For the price of the Iraq War, we could have saved five trillion children from dying of pneumonia. 

Pneumonia, a lung infection that can be caused by a variety of microorganisms,  is responsible for 19 percent of the deaths of children worldwide.  It can be treated with a dose of antibiotic syrup costing 58 cents.  Treating 5 trillion children for pneumonia would cost $2.9 trillion, which is $100 billion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.  

Help everyone on earth quit smoking five times over

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought enough Chantix® to help everybody on Earth quit smoking five times over. 

According to the World Bank, 1.142 billion people in the world smoke.  Antismoking therapy with Chantix® costs $112 per month and lasts three months.  Treating everyone on earth with this therapy five times over would cost $1.92 trillion, which is $1.08 trillion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War. 

Run Obama campaigns for the next 10,000 years

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've funded Barack Obama presidential campaigns for the next 10,000 years.

Barack Obama just raised a record-setting $150 million in September, pushing his total fundraising to $605 million.  If he raises the same amount in October he will have raised a total of $755 million for his presidential campaign.  The next 10,000 years will include 2500 presidential elections.  Similarly funding presidential campaigns for the next 10,000 years would cost $1.89 trillion, $1,110 billion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Buy every donkey in the world a BMW Z4

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've bought every donkey in the world a fully loaded 2008 BMW Z4 convertible.  

There are around 44 million donkeys on earth.  The BMW Z4 convertible costs $52,400 fully loaded.   Buying each donkey a BMW Z4 would cost $2.31 trillion, or $690 billion less than than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Image used under a Creative Commons License from sheeshoo.

Buy each of Pelosi's constituents two dozen roses for every hour since Bush announced Social Security Privatization

For the price of the Iraq War, we could buy everyone in Nancy Pelosi's district two dozen roses each hour since George Bush announced that he would try to privatize Social Security in his second term.  

On November 5, 2004, President Bush announced that his re-election had given him "political capital" and named Social Security privatization as the first thing on which he would spend it. He proposed a plan that would invest Social Security funds in the stock market, which has fallen over 10% since then.  Nancy Pelosi, then the new House Minority Leader, pulled her beleaguered party together so that 201 of the 202 Democrats in the House opposed the plan. Without the possibility of bipartisan cover, Republican support for privatization crumbled.  

Pelosi has 639,088 constituents.  Two dozen roses in the "Double Touch of Elegance" bouquet cost $120 at 1-800-FLOWERS.  Buying each of her constituents two dozen roses each hour since November 5 would cost $2.65 trillion, or $350 billion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Give each US plumber the monthly earnings of Roto-Rooter

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've given Joe the Plumber and each other US plumber, pipefitter, and steamfitter the monthly earnings of Roto-Rooter, the largest plumbing and drain cleaning company in America.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 435,010 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters in America.  The plumbers and pipe fitters union was one of the first to endorse Barack Obama.   Roto-Rooter is the largest plumbing and drain cleaning company in America, reporting earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes, and amortization of $15.9 million in the first quarter of 2008, or $5.3 million per month.  Giving the monthly earnings of Roto-Rooter to each US plumber would cost $2.31 trillion, $690 billion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Give all 9/11 victims a burial on Mars

For the price of the Iraq War, we could give all the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks a burial and funeral on the planet Mars.  

Excluding the 19 hijackers, 2,974 people died in the 9/11 attacks. Another 24 are missing and presumed dead, for a total of 2,998. Each Mars Rover has a weight of 175.4 kilograms, which is considerably more than the vast majority of humans. Assembly, test, launch, and a year of operations of each Rover cost about $425 million. So for $850 million, we could send a person's body to Mars, accompanied by their own personal Mars Rover, to dig a grave, bury the body, and broadcast funeral rites. Burying each of the 9/11 victims on Mars would then cost a total of $2.55 trillion, which is $450 billion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Thanks to reader Andrew Lang for sending in this suggestion with calculations. 

Give every American household a herd of 125 Angora goats

For the price of the Iraq War, we could give every American household a herd of 125 Angora goats.  

The Angora goat is valued for its fur, called mohair, which is heavily subsidized today by the US government.  In 1993, a herd of 125 goats cost $14,600, or $22,136 in today's dollars.  As there are 112 million households in America, giving every American household a herd of 125 goats would cost $2.48 trillion, which is $520 trillion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.

Image adapted under a Creative Commons License from ClifB.

Cover the Midwest in muslin

For the price of the Iraq War, we could've covered the Midwest in muslin.

Florida resident Andy Lacasse posted the sign depicted above on his lawn to attack Barack Obama's racial background and putative religious views.  Muslin is a finely woven cotton fabric, not a term for the followers of Islam, the religion that Obama is sometimes falsely accused of following.  Onlinefabricstore.net sells 1 yard by 125 inches of muslin for $4.  

The midwest can be broadly defined to include the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, which have a combined land area of 822,000 square miles.  Covering this entire area with muslin from onlinefabricstore.net would cost $2.92 trillion, which is $80 billion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.