On March 19th it is the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. The former US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, first estimated that the cost of the war would be between $50bn and $60bn. Joseph Stiglitz, a former chief economist at the World Bank, estimates the real cost of the war in both Iraq and Afghanistan, to be closer to $3trillion.

The casualty figures have also been controversial — and highly politicised.