What is the true cost of the Iraq war? Interesting analysis from former State department official and Kennedy Administration Middle East expert William Polk. And it's a chillingly business-like analysis of the numbers.

In his address to the W.P. Carey School's Economic Club of Phoenix , Polk says argues that the cost of the war exceeds the official death figures of 4527 Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan so far.

First, he says one has to take into account the wounded. Officially, that's 30,000 but if you take into account the number who are not considered wounded, the figure would be roughly 500,000. Many of them would never recover or be properly treated and that will ripple through society later on in terms of divorces, violence and social dislocation.

According to Polk, the estimated cost for treating concussion per victim could be anywhere from $600,000 to $5 million.

There is also an estimate that one in three soldiers who have served in this war will suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. And once more, the effects of that would ripple through society.

The other cost is the likelihood of widespread cancers in a few years time among ex-soldiers who were exposed to depleted uranium in bombs and shells.

If Polk is right, it will make the fall-out from Agent Orange post-Vietnam look like a picnic.