[Newspoetry] Aftermath 2

[William Gillespie]

Check my work:

According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the resident population of the
United States, projected to 12/13/2002 at 5:56:50 PM EST is 288,692,828.

According to a recent report by www.medact.org, the costs of a war in Iraq
could range from $600 billion - $1.6 trillion. The number of lives lost
(mostly Iraqi) could range from 250,000 - 500,000.

I. If we assume the purpose of war is to kill people, then we want to
maximize  the number of lives lost while keeping costs (taxes) down.

I.I Therefore, a positive estimate posits 500,000 lives lost at a cost of
$600,000,000,000.
That's $1,200,000 per casualty.
Which costs $2078 per American.
One Iraqi dead for every 577 Americans.

I.II A negative estimate posits 250,000 lives lost at a cost of
$1,600,000,000,000.
That's $6,400,000 per casualty.
Which costs $5542 per American.
One Iraqi dead for every 1155 Americans.

II. If war serves some purpose other than killing, then we want to reduce
the number of lives lost while keeping costs (taxes) down, all within the
framework of successfully ensuring Iraq does not have weapons of mass
destruction/successfully ensuring Iraq does not have ties to Al
Quaeda/successfully ensuring that Saddam Hussein does not use chemical
weapons against his own people/successfully colonizing the region to
further Bush and his handlers' domination of global oil interests.

II.I A positive estimate posits 250,000 lives lost at a cost of
$600,000,000,000.
That's $2,400,000 per casualty.
Which costs $2078 per American.
One Iraqi dead for every 1155 Americans.

II.II A negative estimate posits 500,000 lives lost at a cost of
$1,600,000,000,000.
That's $3,200,000 per casualty.
Which costs $5542 per American.
One Iraqi dead for each 577 Americans.

Therefore, the most positive of all projected outcomes would have each
American pay $2078 in tax, in exchange for which they get minimal social
services and one thousandth of a Iraqi citizen, probably a civilian killed
by explosives.

And maybe, just maybe, we will sleep more soundly. But I doubt it.