FACT CHECK: Right Wing Falsely Claims Iraq Is Safer Than Washington, D.C.
FACT CHECK: Right Wing Falsely Claims Iraq Is Safer Than Washington, D.C.
The right wing has recently been engaged in an effort to downplay the deteriorating security situation in Iraq by suggesting that the violent death rates in Washington, D.C. are higher than those in Iraq. From Newsmax:
Despite media coverage purporting to show that escalating violence in Iraq has the country spiraling out of control, civilian death statistics complied by Rep. Steve King, R-IA, indicate that Iraq actually has a lower civilian violent death rate than Washington, D.C.
…
Using Pentagon statistics cross-checked with independent research, King said he came up with an annualized Iraqi civilian death rate of 27.51 per 100,000.
Rep. King’s shoddy “report†has slowly gained greater circulation, appearing in the New York Sun and on the Rush Limbaugh show.
Here’s why the report is deceptive and false:
1) The King report uses 2002 data for Washington, D.C., finding a violent casualty rate of 45.9 deaths per 100,000 people. That number is badly outdated. Using the most recent 2004 data, the violent casualty rate in D.C. is 35.8 deaths per 100,000. There were 198 homicides total in D.C. for the entire year.
2)
According to Pentagon’s own data released today, there have been 94 violent casualties per day in Iraq between February and May of 2006. (see p.33). That translates into 34,310 deaths per year in Iraq. For an Iraqi population of about 26.7 million, plus another 150,000 coalition forces, the violent casualty rate in Iraq is 128 deaths per 100,000.UPDATE: The Pentagon data includes injuries as well as deaths so is not directly comparable. The Brookings Institute, however, estimates an annualized murder rate of 95 per 100,000 Iraqis in Bagdad. Brookings notes this number may be “too low since many murder victims are never taken to the morgue, but buried quickly and privately and therefore never recorded in official tallies.”3) Lastly, the King report is trying to conflate the data for one urban area in the U.S. with the entire country of Iraq. As OpinionJournal writes, “The comparison with U.S. cities poses a problem of scale. Just as some municipalities here have high concentrations of crime, Baghdad and some other Iraqi cities have high concentrations of military, guerrilla and terrorist activity. A comparison of Baghdad with Los Angeles or a similarly sprawling U.S. city would be more enlightening than a comparison of Iraq as a whole with cities of well under a million people.â€
UPDATE: Sadly No!, has more.
Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date
Well, now that we all know this, I’m sure they’ll correct it, right?
Bullshit. This was propaganda in the first place. Just like here, here, and here, they don’t believe their own hype. This is disinformation posing as news, and even when you fisk this crap, these dishonest bastards just keep right on going.
They just know that their conservative audience is stupid, not to mention eager for anywhere to hide from their monumental failure. Come out, come out, wherever you are! Come and get one in the yarbles, if you’ve got any yarbles!
May 31st, 2006 at 5:42 pm.
Actually it’s almost correct. Unless you are among the filthy rich right wing, no one in the world is safe from The White House.
50 Ways To Dump The Dubya
May 31st, 2006 at 5:43 pmI’m so glad you guys jumped on this. I mean… I hardly EVER get inconvenienced by roadside car-bombings in DC.
I think King should relocate his offices to “safer” Falluja, don’t you?
May 31st, 2006 at 5:44 pmAdditionally, during weekdays (and possibly at other times) because of commuters, conventions, etc., there are many more people in Washington, D.C. than the official population count shows. On the other hand, for a country, such as Iraq, the population figures are a more or less correct count. Consequently, the figures for Washington, D.C., if adjusted for number of people within the city limits as opposed to official population, would decrease.
For this reason, too, comparison of Baghdad with Los Angeles, as suggested in the post above, may not be an accurate comparison.
May 31st, 2006 at 5:44 pmLet the Republicans who lose this coming election relocate to Iraq, then. Heck, let’s even let the ones who win relocate there, since it’s so much safer.
May 31st, 2006 at 5:46 pmWhy do right wingers hate America and its capital?
May 31st, 2006 at 5:48 pmPeople are shamelessly spreading this terrible, error ridden piece of propaganda even thoguh I’ve seen it debunked a good 5+ times. Big Lie all over again.
May 31st, 2006 at 5:48 pmi just heard randi rhodes say that she wonders if our troops are there to protect the contractors… wow… an interesting concept… not too far out, considering…
May 31st, 2006 at 5:52 pmanyone care to comment?
Ok I’m replying here after having read only the headline of this post and not the substance. In fact I’m going to boycott reading the entire post. Does such a ludicrous claim actually warrant “fact-checking” ???
This makes me think of the David Rees comic strip where he says something to the effect of “I really like George Bush’s optimism about Iraq, but that he’s wasting it standing behind a podium. He should walk the streets of Bagdad and share it with the Iraqis directly.”
May 31st, 2006 at 5:53 pmDidn’t Brit Hume do something like this before, comparing Iraq to California?
May 31st, 2006 at 5:58 pmWhat a shity way to make a living, Rep. Steve King, R-IA.
May 31st, 2006 at 5:58 pmViktor,
May 31st, 2006 at 6:01 pmYes. They do it every time the death tolls make the papers. It’s disgusting. These numbers hacks are people you don’t want your children around.
Rep. Steve King, R-IA may as well have said “they’re only Iraqi’s and black people”.
May 31st, 2006 at 6:02 pmThe latest reported war crime, a US military raid on the al-Mustafa Shia mosque in Baghdad on March 26th, which killed at least 16 people, is only one instance of the phenomena that Lifton has spoken of.
An AP video of the scene shows male bodies tangled together in a bloody mass on the floor of the Imams’ living quarters - all of them with shotgun wounds and other bullet holes. The tape also shows shell casings of the caliber used by the US military scattered about on the floor. An official from the al-Sadr political bloc reported that American forces had surrounded the hospital where the wounded were taken for treatment after the massacre.
The slaughter was followed by an instant and predictable disinformation blitz by the US military. The second ranking US commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, told reporters “someone went in and made the scene look different from what it was.”
YOU CAN ACTUALLY HEAR THE SHOTGUNS AND PEOPLE SCREAMING ON THIS MP3
May 31st, 2006 at 6:02 pmOn March 15th, 11 Iraqis, mostly women and children, were massacred by US troops in Balad. Witnesses told reporters that US helicopters landed near a home, which was then stormed by US troops. Everyone visible was rounded up and taken inside the house where they were killed. The victims’ ages ranged from six months to 75 years.
The US military acknowledged the raid, but claimed to have captured a resistance fighter and insisted that only four people had been killed. Their claim would have held good but for the discrepancies that the available evidence presents. For one, the photographs that the AP reporter took of the scene reveal a collapsed roof, three destroyed cars and two dead cows. The other indictment comes from the detailed report of the incident prepared by Iraq Police. It matches witness accounts and accuses the American troops of murdering Iraqi civilians.
“The American forces gathered the family members in one room and executed 11 persons, including five children, four women and two men. Then they bombed the house, burned three vehicles and killed the animals.” The report includes the observation of local medics that all of the bodies had bullet wounds in the head.
May 31st, 2006 at 6:04 pmAt least California would be more inline as a comparison to Iraq i.e. population, geographic size, then Washington DC.
May 31st, 2006 at 6:05 pmoh you have conviced me! I don’t want to live in DC or Iraq!
May 31st, 2006 at 6:05 pmanymore of this and im going to go nutz - Sort your bloody country out morons
May 31st, 2006 at 6:05 pmHow many Iraqi helicopters land in washington DC and get out and shoot 15 women, children and old men in the head and then take off and deny it ever happend __ GET REAL
May 31st, 2006 at 6:14 pmGee, I didn’t know that. How many countries da ya suppose are now saying: “I wish I could be just like Iraq?”
May 31st, 2006 at 6:33 pmNothing sounds like desperation quite like, uh, desperation.
The right wing might as well claim that it’s safer to live in Iraq than in all of the USA, for what it’s worth.
Of course, I was in that horrible improvised explosive roadside accident last year when I was in DC, while I watched a group of armed militias massacre a group of about 8 civilians in front of me by the side of the road.
But I’m sure that was just an “isolated incident”.
May 31st, 2006 at 6:34 pmHow many people were slaughtered by US Marines? Perhaps Steve King has a corn cob stuck up his butt. Anybody that talks like him needs to take up arms and go to Iraq to help W bring democracy all the world, no matter how many US troops are killed.
May 31st, 2006 at 6:35 pm“The comparison with U.S. cities poses a problem of scale”…
Very good point Faiz!!!
A couple of years ago two people were murdered in a domestic violence incident in a sleepy little town of 1000 that I used to live near… by Kings reasoning (using Kings numbers) this one stop light tourist community is four times as dangerous as DC and eight as dangerous as Iraq (200 deaths/100,000 people).
Apparently scale does matter!!!
May 31st, 2006 at 6:39 pmJune 25, At the Valley of the Greasy Grass (Little Big Horn) Crazy Horse (1849-1877) gathered his army to defend against the American Government encroachment. General Custers invading army of 264 men are unaware the Dakota has fielded 1,000 men. The battle didn’t last long enough to light a pipe and the Blue Coat army is destroyed.
Well, Baghdad is safer than The Little Bighorn was, if that’s any consolation.
May 31st, 2006 at 6:41 pmHaving made their point, what do the Republicans intend to do about the soaring crime rate in America? Why aren’t they creating a Green Zone in DC? Where the hell is Blackwater Security at a time like this!!! Our entire Government is surrounded!!!! Our Nation’s capital is in danger!!!! What does Pat Robertson have to say about that???
May 31st, 2006 at 6:41 pmThe first thing I learned in studying statistics in college was that old adage:
“Figures don’t lie but liars will figure.”
Where could it be more fitting than in the regime of Queen George the Dumb?
May 31st, 2006 at 6:49 pmEmploy death squads to raze capitol hill. That should fix up most of the corruption.
May 31st, 2006 at 7:00 pmOnly religious dimwits like Newsmax could come up with garbage as ugly as this. It is time to make a clean sweep of criminals that think like this. Mr. King should be the first. Totalitarian terror whore from Iowa. Congratulations Iowa on voting in an idiot as bad as this. What kind of skanks live in that state?
May 31st, 2006 at 7:04 pmOnly God knows, (and the people who did it), what is happening in Iraq, and those people will have to live with themselves, and the images in their heads, of the killings and other atrocities. I really wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I have provided counseling to a veteran or two, and the stories are f*cked up. Even the “real tough” guys who seem to be able to adjust to life back in the states are keeping the horrors to themselves, and see the images when they try to sleep.
May 31st, 2006 at 7:04 pmRemember Fox’s Brit Hume saying in 2003 that California was more dangerous for Americans than Iraq?
May 31st, 2006 at 7:04 pmPosting things against the administration and the right is probably the most dangerous thing of all
May 31st, 2006 at 7:14 pmThen where is the real terrorist threat coming from??? Washington D.C.?
May 31st, 2006 at 7:14 pmDo these idiots really think we are that retarded?
Perhaps some extraordinary rendition is needed on capitol hill. It wouldn’t affect the numbers of people hurt by violence in the US statistically whatsoever.
May 31st, 2006 at 7:18 pm2002 was the year of the DC sniper! DC is also one of the most African-american cities in the US, that’s why they used it as an example of a violent town. They would’ve used New Orleans for the same reason if they haven’t drowned the city.
May 31st, 2006 at 7:27 pmWhat is wrong with this pregnant woman that thinks because she is in her country can access every road she wants just because she was in labor? Come on, there is a war going on there!!! No time for having babies or living life. Oh, I remember, Soldiers are heros.
May 31st, 2006 at 7:27 pmIf DC is so dangerous, why is Jenna living it up on WELFARE there? She hasn’t worked a day in her life, unless you call working the back alleys off K Street in that short dress a job!
May 31st, 2006 at 7:28 pmDoesn’t the federal government sort of run D.C. too? Why are they pointing out how bad it is?
May 31st, 2006 at 7:29 pmAs usual, the GOP doesn’t have their facts straight.
May 31st, 2006 at 7:36 pmHmm, if Iraq is safer than D.C., why does it cost $35,000 to go to the Baghdad airport, and a few bucks on a metrocard to get to DC National?
http://www.thenation.com/ blogs/ outrage?bid=13&pid=2361
May 31st, 2006 at 8:00 pmPack up all the worthless neocons to Iraq without body armor, armored vehicles, or heavily armored contingent of thugs where they can relish the hell on earth created by the war criminals of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld. Make sure the Bush brats are first off the plane.
May 31st, 2006 at 8:03 pmWhen I first saw this link being passed around, I knew it had to be bullshit. Thanks for the debunking.
May 31st, 2006 at 8:06 pmDoes anyone know whether King is an NRA supporter? If DC is so dangerous then maybe it is time for a rethink on gun laws.
May 31st, 2006 at 8:15 pmREP. KING - IRAQ IS SAFER - THAN D.C.
I didn’t know that D.C. Police only leave their stations in squads, heavily armed and in armored vehicles. I didn’t know that they had to regularly call in air strikes to outgun their enemy and exit battle zones safely. Nor did I know that they had to establish safe perimeters around their living enclaves where they still receive sporadic mortar fire.
May 31st, 2006 at 8:24 pmTwenty thousand dead or violently injured G.I.s and a knuckleheaded politician ( King ) tricks out some non representational statistics to say, “Hey folks, it’s really not so bad in Iraq.”
I say. Mr. King, you go tell the parents of the dead and injured American troops that it’s not really so bad in Iraq. I’m sure that they will enjoy your statistical nonsense no end and praise your warped sense of respect and patriotism.
As the great Stephen Colbert would say
May 31st, 2006 at 9:05 pm“Thats the craziest f**king thing I’ve
ever heard.”
Gee thats funny. I live and work in DC, and I cannot recall ever seeing a car bomb go off in a crowded market, nor have I never seen someone run onto a bus with a IED straped to their chest.
Call me crazy, but I’ll take DC to Baghdad any day of the week.
May 31st, 2006 at 9:43 pmI would ask Rep. King what he and the rest of Congress are doing to put a stop to the horrific violence in D.C.? And then I would tell him to take his ‘fuzzy math’ and shove it. Jayzus, there really is no level these poops will not go to, in order to ‘minimize’ the reality in Iraq, because of their willing participation in making it happen, and keeping it going. GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
May 31st, 2006 at 9:43 pmFolks, I’m sorry for this all. King is my Congressman. He’s a joke. Don’t ever take anything which he says seriously. And yes, I believe King is an NRA supporter — and if not, he at least gets a high ranking from them.
May 31st, 2006 at 9:54 pmLets give mr king a choice. walk the streets of dc for a week or walk the streets of bagdad for a week and see if he changes his mind.
May 31st, 2006 at 9:59 pmWell, D.C. is going to BECOME a dangerous place. For republicans! Hee hee hee.
May 31st, 2006 at 10:07 pmIt’s like the guy who gets caught with his mistress. He says, “What you gonna believe, me, or your lying eyes?”
May 31st, 2006 at 10:41 pmIt’s always most enjoyable when the GOPbots go out of their way to make themselves so completely stupid
No doubt, King’s next opponent is thankful for this behavior
May 31st, 2006 at 10:45 pmIraq is so bad now that Miami, Florida, is way tame compared to Baghdad!
May 31st, 2006 at 11:08 pmHell the South Bronx or East St Louis looks good compared to Baghdad
May 31st, 2006 at 11:12 pmI just came back from my memorial day weekend trip to DC. Had I known that the city was swarming with violent insurgents (aka politicians), I wouldn’t have spent my vacation there! Thank god I came back from there in one piece. It’s much safer here in NY….
May 31st, 2006 at 11:32 pmWell it would explain why they shut down Congress for hours, based on the overstimulated imagination of a clearly overworked Congressman. Given the dangerous situation in our nation’s capitol, is it any wonder that every loud noise would be cause for alarm? I just didn’t know. No wonder they are not working very many days this year. With all of the danger, who could blame them? They will need treatment for PTSD, no doubt.
May 31st, 2006 at 11:40 pmI’ve got a good idea.
Since they like to compare Iraq to DC, lets use a focus group.
Lets say, reporters? Even though Baghdad has 10 times the population of DC, DC has got to be more reporters in than Iraq, right? Sure there are LOTS of reporters in Iraq, but not compared to DC.
With the Pentagon, the White House, the Congress and the Supreme Court, not to mention the Washington Post and every major network news and cable news company maintaining presences here, and all the international embassies, there has got to be reporters from all over the world in thousands of different buildings and locations.
Lets compare how many reporters got killed in DC last year compared to how many got killed in Baghdad or all of Iraq.
The fact is I don’t hear about too many reporters being killed in DC. Maybe I’m missing an epidemic of reporter slayings right here in my own hometown, but chances are if reporters were being killed in DC enmasse, it would be reported, cause, they’re the reporters. You know?
May 31st, 2006 at 11:43 pmOr how about kidnappings. I mean real kiddnappings at gun point, many of which end up in a violent death for the kidnapee. (Kidnapee = what you do when you get kidnapped).
Lets see how many people were kidnapped at the muzzle of an automatic rifle over the last year.
Hows that for a focus group?
May 31st, 2006 at 11:49 pmOr how about car bombs.
I remember there was a car bomb a few years back. It was kinda on the DC line but still.
Lets see how many car bombs there were in DC, compared to Iraq for the last year.
May 31st, 2006 at 11:51 pmstraws are being grasped-anything goes in covering asses and mitigating the unmitigable.
June 1st, 2006 at 12:40 amLike saying “between the sheets” after reading your fortune cookie, any statement or explication of Iraq should begin with; “this war based on documentable lies.”
straws are being grasped-anything goes in covering asses and mitigating the unmitigable.
June 1st, 2006 at 12:41 amLike saying “between the sheets” after reading your fortune cookie, any statement or explication of Iraq should begin with; “this war based on documentable lies.”
DO NOT BY ALL MEANS EAT THE GOLDSTEIN PASTE
June 1st, 2006 at 12:58 amIf Washington, D.C., is more violent than Iraq, why are we sending our troops there when we need them here? No doubt Congress needs protection from future raids by the FBI, and Cheney could probably use a battalion or two for his underground bunker; and I’m sure our troops could use some R&R down on the border spotting illegals instead of being bored to death in Iraq.
June 1st, 2006 at 1:01 amthe violent casualty rate in D.C. is 35.8 deaths per 100,000
the violent casualty rate in Iraq is 128 deaths per 100,000.
Slap dem foos!
wheres dat damm IRI and Might Mouth been hiding?
I get a feeling they are still slurkingbout.
Come out yew pantywaistedtrollips
June 1st, 2006 at 1:04 amWell, following Rush Limbastard’s twisted logic, then our military forces fighting and dying over in Iraq would cringe at possibly being redeployed to Washington D.C.. Why, that city is downright dangerous.
And if U.S. forces were given a choice between serving in Iraq or being sent to that dangerous Washington D.C., then our soldiers would choose the “safer” Iraq over the more “dangerous” Washington D.C.. I can hear our soldiers now, crying “no, no, don’t send me to Washington D.C.. I want to stay in Iraq. I want another tour of duty in the Sunni Triangle. Rush Limbaugh has said it’s safer for me in Iraq than in Washington D.C.. And I believe everything Rush says.”
Gee, this is on par with the recent right-wing claim that New England states want to outlaw Memorial Day. I’m certain this has been a real surprise to all the U.S. military veterans, both Democrats and Republicans, who live in New England.
Oh, wait, if you’re anti-Bush War, then one must be anti-military and therefore anti-Memorial Day. Or, at least, that’s the twisted logic of some people.
Even though, the Republicans have been the one’s cutting funding for the Veteran’s Administration, showing up at veteran’s funerals and harassing verteran’s families, sending our courageous soldiers into battle without body armor or vehicular protection, replacing our regular military with hired mercenaries (who get paid a hell of a lot more for the same work our regular military does), not policing the contractors providing services (like drinkable water) to our soldiers in Iraq so our soldiers end up getting sick from contaminated water, etc etc etc.
In other words, it’s the crazed neo-con branch of the Republican Party that has actually dishonored Memorial Day and the current members of our military.
But then, the current crop of Republicans are nothing more than neo-fascist, neo-Communist totalitarian liars. And evil, too.
June 1st, 2006 at 1:14 am[…] Because for all of Washington D.C.’s faults, I have yet to worry about an IED blowing me up on the way from the Metro station to work and back. “Idiots” is putting it in the nicest term possible. […]
June 1st, 2006 at 1:45 amOracle and Kash, great points both of you. That would be another great statisitc. Take all the troops stationed at the Pentagon, Arlington, The Navy Yard, Fort Belvoir, Ft Meade, and Bolling Air Force Base, (I’m sure I’m leaving out lots) and I’m sure you would be well over the 150,000 troops we have in Iraq.
So lets do a study on how many Troops die in DC as opposed to Iraq?
June 1st, 2006 at 3:12 amRead it so we can do something about it.
We have the power to take the US back to the people. Where it belongs!!
Loosely Twisted
June 1st, 2006 at 3:45 amGoverments Destabalise society delibretly by reducing police numbers and penny pinching from the poor then fear really works well
its all part of their game
June 1st, 2006 at 5:00 amOnly fascists could come up with propaganda this great!
Maybe we should think of the situation this way. What if the Bushs’ had had control of the US government in 1940? Bush and Chaney would have probably taken sides with Hitler.
The Republicans feel so much more comfortable around fascists.
June 1st, 2006 at 7:41 amWell, it is good to know that there is a place for “left-wingers” (hate to use labels in general, but it seems in vogue here) to post more hate speech.
First question, do any of you live in or near Washington, DC? Yeah. Well I do, and let me say that for a city in America, not to mention our Nation’s Capitol, it pretty much sucks as far as a destination if you are looking for safety on the streets. Now, don’t get me wrong, I would never present that Iraq has a lower death rate for CIVILIANS than Washington, DC. I am a conservative, but that doesn’t mean I agree with everything i hear from other representatives, or even Rush Limbaugh (yes, I listen on occassion). I listen to a lot of different points of views (as do most Americans) and come up with opinions based on that. I challenege other folks here to do the same.
Let me address one particular issue - regarding body armor. The liberals try to paint this as a failing of the President. WRONG. There are Federal procurement rules, put in place by previous DEMOCRATIC congresses, that REQUIRE the military to buy most, if not all of their materials from US companies. This is not a guideline, this is a LAW. I know this as a fact, because I did work for a company that supplies body armor in the DC area, and they could only provide body armor to local law enforcement since the military had taken all the stocks of domestically produced ballistic material. They could not even pitch sales to the military if their vests used foreign made materials. I believe there is some mechanism in place that would allow for the SECDEF to put waivers in to allow for procurement from other sources, but the process is INCREDIBLY complex (read the rules yourself if you don’t believe me - I did).
All of this is totally spurious though - the argument seems to be that we should not have gone to war in Iraq since our military did not have body armor. That would have mean’t we would not have gone to war for 3 or 4 years - which I guess was the true goal of the argument anyway.
Here is a point I see got glossed over in the premise of this post:
Now, I looked at the stats on the FBI site, and it does note that for the District, the rate was 35.8, as is noted above. Sadly, when looking at the listing of all the states, DC appears to rank highest in this category - compared to other states and territories mind you ;)
This place is called THINK Progress - but reading many of these posts, not to mention the premise, it seems that this is more to be called “Left-Leaning Propoganda Progress”. I encourage all of you to read and check into all the facts of an issue before you blindly lambast and deride others.
- Peace
June 1st, 2006 at 7:43 amWe should pass the hat and offer a spring vacation to the Rep. and his family in old Bagdad. The war as he has never seen it. Someone who understands the situation as well as he does deserves the best.
June 1st, 2006 at 8:01 amA true believer would not hesitate for a moment.
Righties have been using bogus arguments like that from the getgo, comparing Baghdad to Detroit, D.C. etc. My response is this: assuming the statistic is valid, it shows we ought to “liberate” our own American cities before we deign to invade and “liberate” other nations. I wonder how the D.C. death rate would be affected if it were filled with soldiers, if curfews were imposed, etc.
Even if the statistics were accurate, the foundational argument is a false one to begin with but even if a valid comparison can be drawn, it wouldn’t speak well of the United States.
The sectarian violence causes far more damage than just deaths- it degrades the quality of life for every Iraqi who still by the way cannot get clean water, reliable electricity, or decent medical care any more.
June 1st, 2006 at 8:05 amI do not know of any car or truck bombs going off in Washington, DC, so any comparison to Iraq is plain ridiculous nonsense! There are NO death squads in the capital either or rival militias killing each other! If Republicans believe Iraq is a safe place, then they need to go there outside of the Green Zone without guards to see how long before they get violently murdered?!
June 1st, 2006 at 8:12 amThis is the biggest bunch of bullcrap propaganda I’ve seen in a long time.
Compare cities with cities, countries with countries & get full-counts if you can. The comparison this guy made is so flawed it hardly deserves anything aside from a big laugh.
I know reporters in Baghdad had on vest & head protection (and still may get blown up).
I know of no such gear being used in DC.
This is nonsense—DO THEY REALLY BELIEVE AMERICANS WILL BUY INTO THIS CRAP?!!
June 1st, 2006 at 8:41 amIt is way past time to end the Iraq occupation, so any Repubs or Dems who want the troops to remain over there must go fight themselves or send their kids to die in Iraq for OIL! Americans are slow to anger, but the crap in Washington is causing a boiling fury throughout the nation, but politicians are obliviously stupid!
June 1st, 2006 at 8:51 amIf D.C. is so dangerous, it seems like a bad idea to cut their homeland security funding by 40%. Cutting that much money would seem to imply that BushCo does not feel that D.C. is any problem, and is in fact SAFER THAN EVER!!! So, which is it?
June 1st, 2006 at 8:52 amSeems to me that what this should tell us is that we ought to be working to make Washington D.C. safer for democracy. How about starting with democracy?
June 1st, 2006 at 8:58 amAmazing! I knew that DC has its share of violent crime, as any other city around the nation and the world, but worse than Baghdad? Where are the news stories on this? Why has it not been reported that DC is really that dangerous and violent?
I was unaware that DC had such a serious and huge problem with car bombings, suicide bombers, insurgents that happily kill anyone different, as well as all manner of senseless violence. People just plain disappear, and are later found dead if found at all.
Then there is the lack of employment, food, water, electricity and other such things on a regular basis. Not to mention the occupying forces from several foreign countries, that seems to fuel much of the violence by their sheer presence alone.
Just when did occupying forces from several other nations set up camp in DC anyway? Are they going to “nation build†and bring us “democracy�
I thought these were problems associated with Iraq and other nations experiencing war, to one degree or another, on the “home frontâ€, but in our nation’s capital city? Wow.
So, if DC is that much more dangerous and violent than Baghdad, then why has the government NOT moved to a safer place? Has anyone told the good citizens of DC about any of this? Shouldn’t they all be evacuated to safer cities and towns?
Just when I think I have heard the dumbest thing come out of the mouth of someone in Washington ….
June 1st, 2006 at 9:17 amLike Cyra Brown’s post #78 indicates…
…if the right wingers (who are in power) REALLY believe this inbred Iowan Steve King’s Report…
…cutting D.C.’s Homeland Security grant 40% is sheer lunacy…
…in fact, common sense- currently at an all-time low with heavy trading here in America…
…dictates that Bushiva and L’il Dick’s folly into Iraq- given the dire security situation in our own nation’s Capitol, according to this inbred Iowan King…
…is downright criminal!
…these billions per week we’re spending in Iraq could make a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE if they were spent on American cities…
…and granny #8…
…you darned tootin’ the troops are there in Iraq to protect the corporate profiteers…
… Bushiva and L’il Dick’s TRUE constituency (as he-Bushiva- has openly declared)…
…as they make a KILLING (no pun intended) off of this OCCUPATION!
…this is NOT a war, it is an OCCUPATION- a sick, twisted, murderous way for Bushiva’s corporate cronies to make a buck…
…and the military industrial complex to make a buck, while TESTING new weapons systems and tactics…
…Iraq has JACK SH*T to do with American national security, freedom for Iraqis, or making the ME more “stable”…
June 1st, 2006 at 9:22 amBut what figures of civiliand deaths are using? The puny 30.000 estimation that offerred Bush in December 2005?
First: Bush has stated a lot of times that they “don’t do body counts”.
June 1st, 2006 at 9:25 amSecond: Many other sources offer a far bigger number of civilian casualties. Take the number offerred by The Lancet: 100.000 in October 2004. Or a more conservative: the IraqBodyCount that states a figure of around 38.000 to 42.000 reported deaths? Remember, the responsibles of the hospital were forbidden to follow the tally of deaths long ago…
Hey, I agree with King, etc. Iraq is as safe as DC. So mission accomplished, victory declared, let’s bring the soldiers home NOW!
there ya go.
June 1st, 2006 at 10:05 amI was shocked to read this story. I am a Vietnam veteran and they gave us the same song and dance in 1968. we were told that there were more motor vechicle fatalaties in the United States than people killed in Vietnam. The arguement didn’t hold water then and it doesn’t now. I am just surprised that nothing changes and history keeps repeating itself. I really believed that we had learned our lesson after Vietnam but I was wrong.
June 1st, 2006 at 10:07 amWe have 130,000 troops in Iraq and they have been dying at a rate of 800 per year. That nets out to 615 per 100,000. Mission Accomplished!
June 1st, 2006 at 10:08 amWe have 130,000 troops in Iraq and they have been dying at a rate of 800 per year. That nets out to 615 per 100,000. Mission Accomplished!
June 1st, 2006 at 10:08 amIt has been a ploy of the corrupt republicans to downplay the deaths–civilian and military, particularly military to bolster their leader’s meaningless war in order to sell it to the public. The majority of American people now know that they have been duped and deceived into a debacle in Iraq and believe that the “war” never should have started and is not worth fighting. Let the war-crazed republicans spin their fraudulent statistics. Anyone who believes that his war is worth fighting is beneffitng from it in one way or another.
June 1st, 2006 at 10:51 amWell, I guess if you discount death squad round ups, friendly fire, stray fire, suicide bombins, RPG attacks, car bombings, and the fact that Iraq is a nation not a metropolis Iraq really is as safe as Washington! What a bunch of shit. Every war has people trotting out these retarded numbers.
June 1st, 2006 at 11:01 amHere is a question:
Its 2 a.m. and you’ve got a thousand dollars in your pocket. Walk down Main street in Fallujah or in Washington?
[…] From Think Progress: The right wing has recently been engaged in an effort to downplay the deteriorating security situation in Iraq by suggesting that the violent death rates in Washington, D.C. are higher than those in Iraq. From Newsmax: Despite media coverage purporting to show that escalating violence in Iraq has the country spiraling out of control, civilian death statistics complied by Rep. Steve King, R-IA, indicate that Iraq actually has a lower civilian violent death rate than Washington, D.C. […]
June 1st, 2006 at 11:05 amOutside of a dwindling number of genuine Kool-Aid drinkers, no one believes this kind of baloney anymore. Rep. King and his ilk are only destroying what’s left of their credibility by continuing to make such claims. Let them do so, as long as other people immediately and forcefully respond to set the record straight.
Nonetheless, I cannot help wishing for King to back up his claim by offering to walk down any street in Baghdad outside of the Green Zone without a military escort. I expect him to do so only after Bush’s two daughters have joined the Army and are patrolling the streets of Falluja.
June 1st, 2006 at 11:17 amthis is NOT a war, it is an OCCUPATION
Comment by big papa — June 1, 2006 @ 9:22 am
This is a really important point that people are not ignoring.
This is not a war. Its an occupation. A police action.
Its not a war if theirs only one army on the battlefield.
June 1st, 2006 at 11:28 amThis can be easily settled. I will walk the streets of D.C. and King will walk the streets of Baghdad. Alone, unarmed.
June 1st, 2006 at 11:30 amOk. Thats a pretty good idea. I;ve got a stopwatch here, so I’ll keep the time.
Why don’t you start strolling around the Mall gronds. Visit some really dangerous places like the Monument, and the Capital building. The Capitals really dangerous, as I heard there were shots fired last week.
Then head into the hotbed of insurgent activity. I suggest Georgetown. You can risk your life, and income, in the expensive shops along M Street.
You get started, and let me know when Kings in Iraq, and I’ll start the stopwatch.
What do you say, 4 hours? Maybe 8?
June 1st, 2006 at 11:36 amSen. Hillary Clinton still claims she is for the Iraq occupation to continue, but whenever anyone mentions that her daughter Chelsea must serve on the front lines Hillary gets indignant, so she needs to admit like Bush that their daughters are too special to die for OIL, but commom Americans kids are cannon fodder to them! Admit it Hillary and Dubya Dunce Decider!!!
June 1st, 2006 at 11:37 amBut no cheating. If you buy something, you have to pay cash. I mean, its not like they accept Visa in Baghdad these days, what with the 60 minutes of electricity a day they get and all.
June 1st, 2006 at 11:37 amcommon not commom lol
June 1st, 2006 at 11:38 amHilary is NOT the choice of progressives as far as I can tell.
This is why I really think we need to come out early for Gore, and stand behind him all the way to 08. Gore is the great White Hope.
June 1st, 2006 at 11:40 amGore is like Superman. He can not only save the country, he can save the Planet.
June 1st, 2006 at 11:44 amSo are we ready for your death defying walk through DC Redneck?
While you’re there, I also suggest you try a hotdog stand.
Thats got to be dangerous.
I know they don’t have anything that dangerous in Iraq.
June 1st, 2006 at 11:59 amThat’s pretty funny!
So why aren’t any of them over there?
June 1st, 2006 at 12:36 pmThats a good question. Perhaps since they believe DC is as dangerous as Iraq, they are all in DC, staring danger in the face.
And hot dog stands.
June 1st, 2006 at 1:06 pmFirst of all, lemme say that I think the initial claimby King is bs. Anyone who thinks that Iraq is safer than D.C. is pretty delusional. That stated, however, unless I’m mistaken there is something glaringly wrong with this refutation article. I hate misrepresentations from both sides of the argument.
If any of you have checked out the link to the Pentagon report, you’ll see that p. 33 (which is referenced in the article) contains a graph which is where, I believe, this article is getting its 94 casualties per day number from. My problem is that 94 casualties per day has to be including injuries and not just deaths. If you notice the first category of that graph which is the time period from April to June of 2004, you’ll notice that the coalition casualty number is 26 per day. If we were assuming the term casualty to mean deaths, that would mean 2340 coalition deaths in that three month time frame. Obviously that’s not the case considering 2340 deaths is nearly the number of coalition troops killed in the entire 3 years of the war. So that means that the extrapolated per 100,000 rate of 128 stated is grossly overstated.
Now if I’m incorrect, I welcome anyone to point out my mistake. I am ardently opposed to the occupation of Iraq and, well, pretty much every policy of George W. Bush, but to fight against the corruption and deceit that is rampant in our politics with incorrect information merely serves to weaken our cause.
June 1st, 2006 at 1:11 pmCourse I’m not being fair. I’ve heard they have hot dog stands in Irag too.
Its just that they don’t explode in DC.
June 1st, 2006 at 1:11 pmJean
A casualty does not mean death.
Casualty can mean both wounded or dead.
June 1st, 2006 at 1:20 pmFlavius,
June 1st, 2006 at 1:34 pmI agree. But then why compare that to the murder/manslaughter rate of Washington D.C. which does NOT encompass wounded? That’s an unfair comparison, is it not?
Send King to Iraq with no armor. Have him drive without bodyguards from Baghdad Airport to the Green Zone.
Yeah, less dangerous than DC…Bullshit!
You Republicrooks are a bunch of LIARS.
June 1st, 2006 at 1:38 pmJean.Whats unfair is the comparison to begin with. Its a ridiculous comparison, and its pure Hubris to suggest it. You should not get caught up in their manipulation of statistics.
Give me a calculator and a good statistician and I can convince you there are more black people in Moscow than DC.
Given I live and work in DC, and given our absecnce of IED’s, comparing our “combat wounded” and those wounded in insurgent attacks is not even an option.
See the TRUTH is, WE DON’T HAVE INSURGENT ATTACKS IN DC, nor do we have CAR BOMBS, SUICIDE BOMBERS, IEDS or BEHEADINGS.
So the suggestion that its safer in Iraq than DC, is just a fool with a calculator, calling the Sun the Moon and the Sky the Sea.
He’s a fool, and the right wing idiots who endorse this ASS logic, are even dumber.
June 1st, 2006 at 1:42 pmIn 1994, El Salvador’s murder rate was 140 per 100,000 inhabitants, just when the US gov’t, the the UN, and the big mainstream media were all hailing the place as the great (only?) example of “peace-making.”
That world-leading, per-capita murder rate was registered two years AFTER the civil war ended.
And it was still higher than today’s figures for an Iraq in raging chaos, according to the Pentagon.
It’s funny what we consider to be “peace.”
Today, El Salvador - the most staunch US ally in Latin America - has a murder rate of about 60 per 100,000 inhabitants, still one of the highest in the world, and that’s after 14 years of “peace.”
June 1st, 2006 at 1:56 pmASS Logic = Logic pulled from ones Ass.
June 1st, 2006 at 1:58 pmGood, they can move the entire sham of a U.S. Govt over there and we can build a
Big Freekin Wal-Mart/Enron complex in D.C.
June 1st, 2006 at 2:10 pmLook obviously the Right Wing is correct….Iraq must be safer than DC…maybe Bush can cart the whole lot of them permanently to Baghdad…I’m sure they will prefer it there.
June 1st, 2006 at 2:14 pmGod spoke to me last night, he said that dumbya, cheeney, kinda-sleezy rice, and dumbsfailed should take pat robertson and jerry falwell and move to Iraq.
Those that are to accompany them are to be the fools that blindly follow these anti-Christ leaders - and a handfull of drones including Fred Phelps and his inbred congregation.
He has spoken. And I like what He said.
June 1st, 2006 at 2:15 pmGod spoke to me last night, he said that dumbya, cheeney, kinda-sleezy rice, and dumbsfailed should take pat robertson and jerry falwell and move to Iraq.
Those that are to accompany them are to be the fools that blindly follow these anti-Christ leaders - and a handfull of drones including Fred Phelps and his inbred congregation.
They are to have an extensive “news” crew go along with them - they are to be FAUX news - every last one of them are to be the voice of record in Iraq.
He has spoken. And I like what He said.
June 1st, 2006 at 2:16 pmJean - I believe these are civilian and coalition deaths. This includes Iraqi’s and Americans.
June 1st, 2006 at 2:36 pmFaiz notes “Lastly, the King report is trying to conflate the data for one urban area in the U.S. with the entire country of Iraq. As OpinionJournal writes, “The comparison with U.S. cities poses a problem of scale. Just as some municipalities here have high concentrations of crime,….”
I appreciate your brave stance. Los Angeles was a suggested comparison - but after dark most people would be hard pressed to differentiate between LA and Baghdad. You did neglect to mention that major urban municipalities ARE and HAVE BEEN under the Dem stranglehold for decades. You’d think with everything Dems promise to give their constients, crime would be a thing of the past in the “enlightened” Dem Zones.
June 1st, 2006 at 2:50 pmbut after dark most people would be hard pressed to differentiate between LA and Baghdad.
Comment by the NotSo-mighty aphrodite — June 1, 2006 @ 2:50 pm
Ass Logic. Plain and simple.
Tell me, how many car bombs take out crowded markets in LA?
Or perhaps you could shed some light on the number of IED’s are buried beneath the city streets? I seem to be having a hard time accumulating those figures.
How about Beheadings? How many beheadings were there last year in LA? I can’t seem to find those figures either. Perhaps you have access to them?
See MA, when your hand keeps reaching back there, all you’re going to pull out is a pile of crap.
June 1st, 2006 at 2:57 pmIsn’t this the anniversary of that grand speech dumbya gave on the aircraft carrier that had to be turned around so the open sea could be behind der leader…..
The Banner behind the chimp said MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
I believe it, and I also believe krash-kart-shoot-em-up when he lied and said “the insurgency is in its last throes”
George Orwell/1984: “War is Peace”
Dumbya/2002: “I just want you to know that, when we talk about WAR, we’re really talking about peace.”
Conclusion: Dump the George Orwell Party in 2006/2008
June 1st, 2006 at 3:16 pmJay Randal astutely notes Hillary’s various positions on the War. She is simply tailoring her message to her wide ranging audiences. Do not be discouraged - MOST likely she will be the Dem nominee in ‘08. I understand this is not an attractive proposition. Unfortunately, the vocal and visible “progressive” wing of the Dem Party will not carry the day down on the convention floor. I realize that thought does not sit well with some of you, but the powers that be in the DNC realize middle America won’t go for the “true progs” like John Murtha, Russ Feingold, and Dennis Kucinich. Take heart, Hillary IS more liberal than she is spouting now - you’ll be able to vote for her with some measure of confidence.
June 1st, 2006 at 3:23 pmDear F-WO - You’re talking methodology in homicide??? Kids caught in the cross fire between Demathugs feel so much better their child is “just dead” and not blown to smithereens - or missing a body below the head….But those Dems SURE do know how to run an urban “village”…..
June 1st, 2006 at 3:27 pmWell I’m really to call you on your ASS logic MA.
Heres the deal.
You spend a week walking the streets of Iraq.
I’ll spend a week walking the streets of LA.
Gimme a call at the end of the week, and we’ll compare notes….assuming your still able to dial.
Cool?
June 1st, 2006 at 3:32 pmYou cheapskate F-WO - The bank just called and you don’t have enough $$ to get you to LA and me to Iraq…..figures.
June 1st, 2006 at 3:38 pmThey should compare Baghdad to Washington DC, that would at least be a fair comparison. However, then I’m pretty sure Baghdad will be a lot more violent since deaths in Iraq are disproportionate, most of them happening in Baghdad, even taking population into consideration.
With that said, if you exclude Baghdad from the equation in Iraq, would you get a similar death rate as in the US? Would be interesting to find out.
June 1st, 2006 at 3:45 pm#122 Clearly not, or we wouldn’t be sending more troops into the areas that are not Baghdad.
Play with the numbers all you want, it is still a war zone three years after Mission Accomplished.
June 1st, 2006 at 3:55 pmSexion a good comparison would be Iraq and California…roughly equal populations…and compare cause of deaths also..to see how many in anyplace here were killed by IED’s…howmany kidnapped and tortured by electric drills…how many kids shot by Marines
How many blown up at church… how many have had their homes blown up by Military action….
June 1st, 2006 at 4:05 pmI’m thinking that saying Iraq is safer than DC isn’t such a compliment on the state of America. If our capitol is less safe than a full blown war zone am I supposed to feel good about it? What kind of jackass thinks that this is a good comparison. It’s kind of like saying that our society is out of control and we are headed for a serious crash…wait a minute we are. Never mind.
June 1st, 2006 at 4:05 pmYou cheapskate F-WO - The bank just called and you don’t have enough $$ to get you to LA and me to Iraq…..figures.
Comment by Flighty aphrodite — June 1, 2006 @ 3:38 pm
Worst comeback of the year.
Besides, didn’t you know it was “dutch treat”?
June 1st, 2006 at 4:14 pmSexion and FA,
I am still waiting for those figures on the number of IED’s planted beneath the streets of our nations capital.
Also could you please provide me with the number of Car Bombs detonated in DC over the last year?
And we are also still waiting for those figures on the number of kidnapped and beheaded Americans in DC over the last year.
Get those numbers to me as quickly as possible, so I can take your names off the national list of the hopelessly ignorant and confused.
June 1st, 2006 at 4:19 pmAlso while you’re at it, please provide us with the number of Journalists kidnapped and or killed in Washinton DC over the last 3 years.
Since we know there are more Journalists in the DC Metro region, then there all in the entire country of Iraq, and if your theory that DC is more dangerous than Iraq, we should see a highly disproportionate figure of Journalists kidnapped and or killed in DC as opposed to Iraq.
June 1st, 2006 at 4:23 pmGet those numbers to us quiclkly now.
Wouldn’t want people to think you just making up crap to sell your war, now would we?
June 1st, 2006 at 4:29 pmAnd while you’re at it, please write all of our soldiers in Iraq, and tell them to stop being such crybabies.
After all, all they have to do is walk and drive around in Iraq.
Imagine if they had to do something really hard like us poor civillians?
You know, like visit the Smithsonian.
June 1st, 2006 at 4:33 pmF-WO - “Dutch treat”?? Not when it was YOUR idea….of course, even the progs who HAVE two nickels to rub together are notoriously cheap….Of course, you would rather not discuss the urban blight and crime in too many Demthug controlled cities. I understand….
June 1st, 2006 at 4:34 pmNo you’re absolutely right MA. All I need to convince everyone here is those numbers I asked for.
Give me stats on the following.
Car Bombs driving into crowded resturaunts and stores
Suicide bombers
Buried IED’s
Heads cut off
Kidnappings
Mortar Fire
Get me all of these numbers and I’ll help you prove what a bunch of sissy’s our soldiers in Iraq really are.
I mean, what little cowards. Complaining about their so called, dangerous “tours of duty” in Iraq. Running around scared all the time. They’re a bunch of cowards, obviously.
I mean, just look at us poor civilians on the firing line here in DC.
We don’t even get to wear Kevlar!
Get those numbers to me babe, and we’ll give em hell.
June 1st, 2006 at 4:43 pmThe Banner behind the chimp said MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Happy Anniversary!
Iraq, THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH—-Thanks Dumbya!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! (how much did Carlyle and Halliburton make doing this?)
June 1st, 2006 at 4:48 pmHey Worfeus, I haven’t heard of any beheadings in DC, but I do know that someone harvested dumbya’s brain and krash-kart-shoot-em-up’s heart. Does that count?
I don’t expect anyone could get any real facts from MA - (mighty azzwipe) aka: IRI.
I asked it once if it was really stupid or just a paid stooge from the DC propaganda machine…. to date, no answer….. I have to conclude it is just really that stupid.
June 1st, 2006 at 4:52 pmThe message is clear and is not really about statistics. It is about reinforcing belief. Whether in Iraq or in DC, the majority of casualties are either pooh white trash, crazed negroes or satanic Mohammedans . So don’t worry. Be happy. Keep the faith. War is good.
June 1st, 2006 at 5:45 pmWow you all are having so much fun with all this. Unless of course you or your loved ones happen to be one of the dead in either places. I was wondering if the next terrorist attack that will surely come happened on your door step, if you still think it is so funny. Seems you never woke up from 9/11. Call fear or stupidity or reality your call. I’ll laughing at your funeral. Privicay is not the right to civer up crimes.
June 1st, 2006 at 6:02 pmI hope Americans are smart enough to realize that Rep. King is comparing apples and oranges. His report is just more nincompoopery from a Congress that will go to any lengths to keep the president from looking like a incompetent fool. Too late. All he does is show how much we really need a change in the House.
June 1st, 2006 at 6:28 pmIt’s a good thing we have fox news to give us the REAL story, I’m not worried about another terrorist attack, don’t you know why thats the reason they tore up the Constitution, to keep us safe. Why, even Dick Cheney knows that w/ him and monkey ears in the WH theres not a chance for another attack, rest assurred there will be no attack, except of course if you elect a Democrat for president, then the nuclear bombs will rain down on America, besides let’s stick to the real important issues: GAYS WANT TO GET MARRIED, it’s the end of the world as we know it.
June 1st, 2006 at 6:39 pmWow you all are having so much fun with all this. Unless of course you or your loved ones happen to be one of the dead in either places. I was wondering if the next terrorist attack that will surely come happened on your door step, if you still think it is so funny. Seems you never woke up from 9/11. Call fear or stupidity or reality your call. I’ll laughing at your funeral. Privicay is not the right to civer up crimes.
Comment by Minimal Thinker — June 1, 2006 @ 6:02 pm
Ywa Einstein.
We’re have a real ball.
June 1st, 2006 at 6:55 pmIn fact, we’re having so much fun we forgot to invite you to join the party.
Tell you what cheesball. Why don’t you take the family on over to Iraq. Get a room at the Bagdhad Hilton (I recommend one of the rooms not on fire), then give us a ring (when the lines are working).
Then we’ll get a room at the dangerous and violent DC Hilton.
After a month, we’ll meet on the Internet during the 30 minutes of electricity you get free with your room, and compare notes.
Sound like a plan Stan?
June 1st, 2006 at 6:59 pmAnd by the way, tell your boyz from brazil, the ones in the White House who helped build this new, safer than DC Iraq, to tell the troops to stop being such sissies.
After all, what do they have to be afraid of compared to the horrors right here in Washington DC?
Surely these cowards are not worried about a “few insurgents”, or some silly car bomb, or a couple of shoulder fired missles, when civillians over here are risking their lives everyday on the DC Metro, are they?
June 1st, 2006 at 7:06 pmIED’s my ass.
You ever step on Gum before?
Ever had to scrape it off your shoe with a business card?
Well I have.
And I can tell you, it’s not a pretty sight.
June 1st, 2006 at 7:09 pmThink driving a truck down the Bagdhad is rough?
Then you obviously have never had to sit in rush hour traffic on New York Avenue. People trying to wash your winsheild and begging for money.
God….the memories. The awful memories. (or was it mammeries?)
Once my air conditioner even stopped working and I had to open the windows.
God it was hell.
June 1st, 2006 at 7:16 pmWe are going to fall like the Romans and every other single empire before us. We cant avoid it now, we are too wide spread not to mention that we are selling our weapons to many countries that we will most likely soon be fighting.
June 1st, 2006 at 7:27 pmIraq: THE SAFEST AND HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!
Let’s move all the RE-PUBIC-licans and our der leader the flying/lyin’ monkey and Krash-Kart-Shoot-Em-UP over there.
After all, they have greeted us as liberators. Since Krash-kart said a year ago the insurgency is in its last throes, they must be gone now.
All we have to worry about over there is our own boys shooting us. Ever notice that in Iraq, much like Vietnam you never saw a dead person that was a good guy. As soon as they die, they’re tagged with the term enemy combatant.
Everybody run, cheeney’s got a gun!
June 1st, 2006 at 7:30 pmAs we say in the verbal world, some of you authors (and I use the term with tongue in cheek) are letting your mouth (fingers) overload your brains. If you want people to read your garbage, don’t call names! I happen to be a Conservative (Ultra) who is disaffected with this administration (not right enough). As a Conservative and a concerned American who, by the way, has served his country, I thoroughly resent the name calling. A mister “Grand Muff Texan” referred to conservatives being stupid. The person who made that uninformed and irresponsible remark is probably one of those intellectually challenged “left-wing non-entity. I feel much better now!
June 1st, 2006 at 7:31 pmIsn’t it obvious? WE’VE WON!
Looking forward to our troops’ speedy return! Better buy your confetti now, before it disappears off the shelves in the next coupla days…
June 1st, 2006 at 7:51 pmIf you want people to read your garbage, don’t call names
Comment by D. Thorn — June 1, 2006 @ 7:31 pm
The person who made that uninformed and irresponsible remark is probably one of those intellectually challenged “left-wing non-entity.
Comment by D. Thorn — June 1, 2006 @ 7:31 pm
June 1st, 2006 at 8:22 pmIf it’s so safe, let’s pull the troops out of Iraq.
June 1st, 2006 at 9:17 pmNow not all CONservatives are stupid, but most stupid people are CONservative.
June 1st, 2006 at 9:25 pm#146, I’m not sure you can change the subject…that subject is Iraq is safer than DC.
Tell that to the people the soldiers executed because they were pissed off.
Tell us since you are so smart, since Iraq is the safest and happiest place on earth, when are you moving?
June 1st, 2006 at 9:29 pmIf DC is even more dangerous, isn’t our coward Bush negligent for not making our troops in DC wear bulletproof vests and drive around in uparmored humvees?
June 1st, 2006 at 9:50 pmOur troops Doug? What about us?
I mean, DC has a population of about half a million, and another million or so commute in daily to work.
Don’t we need Kevlar?
What about getting some of that armour for our cars?
BTW, do you know what streets the IED’s are on? I’d like to avoid them tomorrow, being its Friday and all.
June 1st, 2006 at 9:57 pmTry this one for scale:
If Iraq is on a trend for 35,000 violent (occupation-related) deaths this year for a population of approximately 25 million people, that would equate to 350,000 violent deaths in this country with a population approximately 10 times as great.
Think we’d be a little bit pissed about that?
June 1st, 2006 at 10:01 pmYes, just a litte kpinncacle.
—–
Breaking NEWS.
Another murder by Marines in Iraq in April of this year.
The Marines apparently pulled a man from his home and murdered him.
Then they made his body look like an insurgent.
This is SEPERATE from the Haditha incident.
June 1st, 2006 at 10:07 pmThis one happened in Hamandiyah in April of this year.
It is important to note that the marines involved in this murder have ALL been CHARGED, and are under ARREST and imprisoned here in a US Brig.
June 1st, 2006 at 10:09 pmInvading soldiers dragging people from their homes and executing them. Invading soldiers breaking into homes and executing civilians in cold blood, including children.
Nazis in 1940’s? No! Americans in 21st century SAFE Iraq.
How would you feel if you couldn’t trust those you greeted as liberators, and couldn’t trust the police, nor could you trust the armed thugs?
We’re killing civilians over there, so we don’t have to count their votes over here - thanks dumbya
June 1st, 2006 at 11:15 pm“[sarcastic] Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” - Krist Novoselic
June 2nd, 2006 at 1:44 amBloodiest month: UK suffers largest post-war losses
In May, 11 Britons were killed in Iraq. These are the worst losses since the war ended, prompting more calls for a British withdrawal
By Ian Herbert and Ben Russell
Published: 31 May 2006
It would seem that the last remaining real journalists on the planet didn’t get the REICH-Wing’s memo of Iraq being the safest and happiest place on the planet.
June 2nd, 2006 at 9:23 amhttp://blog.peakdems.org/ 2006/ 06/ iraq-is-safer-than-calculation-with.html
Country of Iraq, 2005: 48.4 violent civilian deaths per 100,000 population
Baghdad, 2005: 85.2 violent civilian deaths per 100,000 population
Bunch of truth-impaired so-called journalists don’t even bother to look up the figures and do the calculation. Given King’s previous pronouncements, that amounts to “negligent veritacide.”
June 9th, 2006 at 10:20 pm[…] After years of complaining about the “libe