Fatality Rates
I wouldn't be telling you this except that I think the media provides a distorted picture of the war Iraq.
The civilian murder rate in the U.S. is 5 per 100,000. The rate in the state of Louisiana is nearly 13. The rate in Washington, D.C. is 36.
What do you figure the rate is in Iraq? Answer here (scroll down). Not as bad I'd have guessed. What about you? [Link corrected.]
The civilian murder rate in the U.S. is 5 per 100,000. The rate in the state of Louisiana is nearly 13. The rate in Washington, D.C. is 36.
What do you figure the rate is in Iraq? Answer here (scroll down). Not as bad I'd have guessed. What about you? [Link corrected.]
Labels: Iraq
posted by John B. Chilton at 6/08/2006 07:34:00 AM
3 Comments:
Both those links appear to go to the same web site, and I don't see the Iraqi statistic. Perhaps you meant to link to another page?
Second link corrected. Thank you.
Slagothor,
My post gives readers a link to all the state numbers. It also linked to an article that gave some give and take between Steve King and an opinion writer for the Wall Street Journal. It provides sufficient information for an educated reader to draw their own inferences. You wish to compare Iraq to all 50 states; so be it. I wish to draw the readers' attention to the fact that the numbers indicate that Iraq and at least one US state have civilian death rates in the same magnitude. I believe seeing that comparison helps one draw inferences about how unsafe Iraq really is for Iraqi civilians. If the public merely follows the day to day news public opinion is in danger of overstating how bad conditions are, and driving politicians into poor policy decisions.
Rather than impugning my intelligence or my motives, I encourage you to criticize the reasonableness of the comparison, or to express your assessment about whether the underlying numbers are counting the same thing. The dissonance between my comparison and the sense we get from watching the news on civilian deaths suggests this pause and reflect kind of question.
Regular readers know my politics and can apply their own discount factor on what I choose to highlight.
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