What maybe the $500 billion COULD have been spent on?

It is well known that the U.S. has spent hundreds of billions of dollars fighting its little war in Iraq (well, little for the U.S. - not for the millions of Iraqis having their lives destroyed courtesy the U.S. taxpayer and military). A famous economist has even asserted that the war will ultimately cost the United States several trillion dollars. Some observers might think the U.S. is rich and can easily afford it. And if they were thinking of the United States government they might be right.