Since it now looks like we went into Iraq not because of the false percieved threat to the US but for humanitarian reasons I thought it would be good to do a cost/benefit analysis of the War in Iraq verses, what we should have done, a War against the AIDS epedemic.
13,213 Iraquis have been killed in our Military intervention in Iraq.
4.8 million people were infected by HIV in 2003
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Since 1979 Saddam in his wars against Iran, Kuwait, Kurds and Shiites is accused of killing about
1,278,317 people.
Since 1981 AIDS has killed more than
20 million people
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Their have been
819 US mortalities thus far in the war.
Their were
16371 US mortalities from AIDS in 2002 and
42136 new infections.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Terrorists have killed less than
10,000 Americans since 1981 including
2819 on 9/11
AIDS has killed more than
501,669 Americans since 1981.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
34 Countries in the coalition of the willing have had troops in Iraq and actively supported supported the war.
193 countries in the world are affected by AIDS and would support a war against the epedemic.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The war in Iraq has cost the US
123.5 billion.For the same amount the US could sustain a global war against AIDS for 12 years.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Saddam was bad. AIDS is worse. The intelligence is there and we know what AIDS is doing. America needs to keep it priorities straight and attack the worst enemies first.
