i got
sent
this today:
Subject: Interesting fact.
Regardless of where you stand on the issue of the U.S. involvement in Iraq,
here's a sobering statistic.
There has been a monthly average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theater of
operations during the last 22 months, and a total of 2,867 deaths.
That gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers.
The firearm death rate in Washington D.C. is 80.6 per 100,000 persons for
the same period. That means that you are about 25% more likely to be shot
and killed in the U.S. Capital than you are in Iraq.
Conclusion: The U.S. should pull out of Washington
YA THINK!!!
***
and now for something completely different: Authentic Happiness
***
This blog is written with the help of my alter-ego Lady Liberty.
I am not responsible for any offense you may take to her Comments
7 comments:
Yeah, those are misleading stats about Iraq and Washington. The total number of deaths in Iraq in much much higher, and the green zone in Bagdad is very safe place to be, but to be outside, you have a very high chance of being wounded or killed. It is mostly Iraqis killing Iraqis, but the city only has a quarter of the population it had under Saddam, and the infrastructure is STILL in shambles. (except the green zone, of course). We've done nothing to make Iraqi peoples life better in Bagdad, it is much much worse.
I lived in DC, it is very safe except for a few pockets of high-crime, and those are drug-related crimes, otherwise, the area as safe as any ohter city.
Wow! A masters degree in positive psychology. Now that is something that is going to be very helpful in the future. As for getting out - I say, we get the politicians out of D.C. and send them to Iraq in place of the soldiers. That should cut down on crime a lot.
"That means that you are about 25% more likely to be shot
and killed in the U.S. Capital than you are in Iraq."
Well hon, the military in Iraq have guns and are always on high guard and alert. The folks in D.C. are not so aware and watchful. Nick has a sort of a point, stay in a safe zone as much as you can.
And if you leave it have a gun and be on a high alert.
As for the link, I don't really have anything against psychology, but I don't have of faith in it either. It's a pretty infant science as sciences go.
I've met a lot of shrinks, they all had deep issues, just saying. Hugs.
I would like to add that you seem to be talking about American deaths in Iraq. A place we have no business being in the first place.
Factor in the deaths of Iraqi people and I think the numbers will change.
Correct me if you think I'm wrong.
Sobering indeed. And BBC's point is well taken. Our news reports are so ruthlessly myopic, except for the occasional piece to make people feel compassionate.
That is some messed up math. Almost 3,000 deaths, less than two years, 160,000 troops...... 60 per 100,000?
Huh?
Come on guys, this "statistic" is just plain logically flawed. The writer is comparing the MONTHLY death rate per 100,000 troops in Iraq to the ANNUAL murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants in Washington, DC. Anyone see a problem here???
I pulled up some stats for the number of military fatalities and the number of ground troops in Iraq from March 2003 to September 2007. The highest number of military deaths for any 22-month period since the war started was the most recent 22 months from Nov-05 through Aug-07, in which 1,810 died. During that period, there was an average of 145,000 ground troops in Iraq. This gives a death rate of 56.86 military deaths per month per 100,000 troops deployed, or 682 military deaths per year per 100,000 troops deployed.
In 2005, the last year that I could find statistics for, the District of Columbia had 195 murders and a population of 550,521 for a murder rate of 35.4 per 100,000 inhabitants per year. The highest rate between 1960 and 2005 was 80.6 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 1991. This was 16 years ago, but is the statistic quoted.
Even if the writer's facts were correct and his logic was correct (not comparing months to years), his math is still wrong, 80.6 is 34% more than 60.
HERE IS THE TRUTH!!! The average GI on the ground is over 19 times more likely to die in Iraq than the average Washingtonian from murder in DC. I don't care to live in Washington, DC and I certainly don't want to go to Iraq. Nor do I want George Bush to send any of our sons or daughters to die in Iraq.
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