it just goes to show how a little math can be a dangerous thing in the hands of an ignoramus or a liar, or in this case ignoramuses who’re also liars.
the populations of the cities the author's cite are larger than the military troop levels in iraq by factors of 20 to 40 or even more (chi - 2.8 million, la - 3.7 million, nyc - 8 million), so the murder rates in us cities would have to be at least
20 times higher before they even approached the carnage levels in iraq. also, since the figures quoted in the above link were from 2004, you'd need to readjust them upwards by at least anther 50% before you'd arrive near the present levels of death. in addition, since most murder is personal and the end result of unresolved conflicts (and usually precipitated by intoxication), it's somewhat easier to avoid than having your face blown off at random in a roadside explosion when you've been ordered to drive down a mined street. the same can go for accidents too. you can avoid dying in motorcycle, hang-glider, parachute or even ladder accidents etc here in the states by simply not participating in such activities – but you can’t do the same in iraq if under orders to perform potentially dangerous tasks. well, you can, but you’d eventually go to jail for it while having your character forever besmirched.
in any event mortality and morbidity rates are normally presented in occurrences per 100,000 people (occasionally per 1000 people, sometimes per million) then further refined for factors such as age and income levels. atm just off the top of my head, if in nyc for example the population is 8 million and the murder rate is 49 per month (glueck & cihak figures), then the death level is well under 1 per 100,000 (apx .6), or more specifically it’s 1 per 163,000 residents per month. if for comparisons sake the troop level in iraq is 140,000 and the death rate is 70 per month, the death rate per 100,000 is 50, or 1 death per 2000 troops per month. that is in other words
over 80 times higher than the murder rate in new york city. again this is off the top of my head. you can refine it w/the latest figures and you may see a fractional decrease, or perhaps even increase - but you won’t see a factor change.
the death rate in iraq is appalling. even when compared to us death rates. it remains so even when accounting for "accidents."
the guys who came up with this
absurd and misleading comparison should be forced to do a year of penance with calculators. i suggest doing it in iraq - outside the green zone - dressed in standard issue army gear.
- js.